Last time, we fellowshipped on letting go of one’s notions and imaginings about God incarnate, which is involved in the subject of “How to Pursue the Truth,” right? (Yes.) In this regard, we fellowshipped on the topic of “not putting the incarnate God on a par with corrupt humankind,” and within this topic we fellowshipped on how God incarnate views suffering, which involves some thoughts, views, and opinions on suffering. Fellowshipping on how one should view suffering allows people to have correct thoughts and views about suffering, enabling them to correctly comprehend suffering and correctly approach suffering. That is, you must endure the suffering that you ought to endure; if you endure suffering that is not what you ought to endure, or that is pointless, God will not remember it. If it is the suffering you ought to endure, and enduring it is something you ought to do, then you must approach it correctly, accept it from God, and have a mindset of submission; you should not complain, and you should not refuse it or evade it, but rather comprehend it correctly. Comprehending it correctly means viewing correctly the significance of suffering, the value of suffering, as well as what one should achieve and what one should gain after enduring suffering. In short, suffering is something everyone must experience; all people living in the flesh must suffer. Whether you are pursuing a good life, pursuing aspirations, or pursuing the truth to attain salvation in your belief in God, suffering is something people must experience and something people should approach correctly. People must view correctly and comprehend correctly the issue of suffering. If it is suffering that one ought to endure, one should accept it and submit, and should not complain, should not refuse it, and should not evade it. At the same time, they must seek the truth and seek God’s intentions amid the suffering. Of course, it is even better if, in the process of suffering, you can know your own corruption and rebelliousness, and know your own deficiencies and inadequacies, and know what truths and principles of self-conduct God allows you to experience, appreciate, and gain in this environment or instance of hardship. In short, suffering is something everyone ought to experience and ought to accept. Of course, we also fellowshipped that, if the suffering one endures is necessary and valuable, is approved of by God, and is suffering that people ought to endure, then this is suffering that involves the practice of the truth. If the suffering one endures has nothing to do with the practice of the truth, if it is man-made suffering or suffering pursued out of human will, then this is not the suffering we advocate. Engineering some difficulties and troubles, engineering some problems, and then going out of one’s way to experience them—all of this is unnecessary, and it is superfluous. Furthermore, the suffering people endure to satisfy their own ambitions and desires, to satisfy their craving for status, or to satisfy their selfish desires is also unnecessary. The nature of enduring this kind of suffering is different from that of true suffering, suffering endured to gain the truth and make genuine gains. We fellowshipped on this aspect, didn’t we? (Yes.) How do you view the issue of suffering now? (Before, I had many distorted views and understandings regarding suffering in my heart, believing that when it came to doing my duty, no matter how I suffered and no matter what kind of suffering I endured, God would accept it and would approve of it. It was only after God fellowshipped on what kind of suffering God approves of and what kind of suffering is for the sake of practicing the truth that I began to discern my own fallacious views on things. And it was only then that I began to reflect on how I approach suffering, and on which suffering I now endure is contrived and superfluous suffering, which suffering I endure for the sake of my selfish desires, personal fame, gain, and status, or ambitions and desires, and which suffering I ought to endure and should not refuse. For example, suffering endured for the sake of understanding the truth and practicing the truth, suffering endured to bear witness for God, suffering endured to do my duty well and satisfy God, and suffering endured for the sake of dispositional transformation—this kind of suffering must be endured, and what is gained after enduring this suffering is the truth. Only after God fellowshipped on this did I know that I must comprehend the issue of suffering correctly, and that I should not feel resistant toward the suffering I ought to endure, but rather accept it and submit, striving forward little by little. I hope that one day I can reach the point of praying to God like Peter did, wishing for God’s chastisement and judgment not to leave me, and being able to accept the suffering of judgment and chastisement, and trials and refinement, so that I can have true life entry.) You must approach the matter of suffering correctly, and you must have a pure comprehension of it. In short, when it comes to suffering that is not what you ought to endure, do not create hardships or create various kinds of obstacles to make things difficult for yourself. Making things difficult for yourself is inhumane, and it is also irrational. Most importantly, no matter how you make things difficult for yourself—whether it is overcoming some of your own problems or creating some troubles to make things difficult for yourself—what you gain in the end will at most be the satisfaction of your personal ambitions and desires, or your own emotional gratification, but you will not have truly gained the truth reality. If the suffering you endure is to safeguard the existence of positive things, to safeguard the existence of justice, and to safeguard the interests of God’s house, and it is suffering you endure to be devoted, to fulfill your responsibilities, and to reach the point of submitting to God and satisfying God, then enduring such suffering is valuable and meaningful; it is the suffering one ought to endure. If the suffering you endure is to safeguard your own pride, status, and reputation, to satisfy your selfish desires and satisfy your own ambitions, and to gain status and gain great prestige among people, yet in enduring it you fail to safeguard the interests of God’s house and fail to safeguard positive things, and it is not endured in order to fulfill your responsibilities, much less to reach the point of having devotion and to reach the point of satisfying God, then all such suffering is unnecessary suffering and worthless suffering. Even if you endure it, you do so in vain. You should avoid such suffering as much as possible. How can you manage to avoid it? Is this easy to do? (We should first accept the correct views on suffering that come from God, and then match them against ourselves bit by bit in our experiences. When we realize that such suffering is without value, we will no longer endure such pointless suffering.)

Some churches are in areas where living conditions are harsh. The dining and lodging environments are poor, and even getting a clean glass of water is a stretch, but you are required to do your duty there—what should be done in this situation? Suppose you think to yourself, “The suffering that comes with these external conditions is not what I ought to endure. I was born to do church work; I am a leader, and the treatment I enjoy should be better than what ordinary people receive. The living conditions here are too harsh, which affects my mood and keeps me from doing my work well. This won’t do. This harsh environment is not suitable for me to do my duty. I have to change to a place with beautiful scenery and a pleasant environment to do my duty. I have also got to have a good host home, where the food is tasty and I can sleep comfortably, where there is air conditioning indoors and nice landscapes and places for rambling outdoors. That’s the kind of place that is suitable for me to do my duty.” And consequently, you choose to leave the harsh place and find somewhere with a nice environment to do your duty. How is practicing like this? (It’s not good.) Some people say, “Didn’t You say not to create troubles for ourselves? Coming to this impoverished, harsh environment where the food and lodging are bad—isn’t this bringing trouble upon myself, and bringing suffering upon myself? Since this is asking for suffering and asking for trouble, and creating obstacles for the work, then I should find a place that is free of troubles.” Is it acceptable to act like this? (No.) Tell Me, is there anyone who comprehends things this way? (Yes.) Is it right to comprehend things this way? (No, this kind of comprehension is a bit distorted.) So when you encounter an environment of hardship like this, where the dining and lodging environment is poor, the food and drink are unhygienic, there are always flies, mosquitoes, and all sorts of bugs flying around, you sleep on a hard wooden bed, the quilt is damp and dirty, you can’t get a good night’s sleep, there’s nowhere quiet to hold gatherings, the environment is unsafe, and moreover, Satan’s regime carries out persecution and manhunts there—then wouldn’t you say you’re bound to endure a lot of suffering in such an environment? (Yes.) But there is a church in this place, and there is work to be done, so what should you do? Would you endure this suffering or not? (We must endure it.) As a matter of doctrine, people can accept this and know that they must endure this suffering, but why must they endure it? (Because the church’s work calls for it, as does our duty, this suffering must be endured.) This is the work you ought to do, and it is the responsibility you ought to fulfill. When this is the case, it involves the issue of whether you are devoted in doing your duty. You cannot consider whether the environment is comfortable, nor can you act based on whether your flesh is comfortable or in pain; you cannot go by these feelings. You must try every possible way to overcome the various difficulties in order to fulfill your responsibilities and duty. Some people say, “I myself won’t go. I’ll find someone suitable to go and do this work and endure this suffering. I’ll save my energy to do some other important work, and I won’t have to endure that pointless suffering.” Is comprehending it this way correct? (No. If it is certain that this is where I ought to go, and that there is work I ought to do, but I arrange for someone else to do it out of fear of suffering, this is being slippery and slacking off.) If it is certain that this is the place you ought to go, and that there is work you ought to do, a duty you ought to do, and problems you ought to handle there, yet you do not go and instead come up with all kinds of excuses and reasons to have someone else go, this is not being devoted, and this is evading and refusing hardship. The most fundamental reason you would have someone else go is not that it would be inconvenient for you to go, nor is it that going is optional for you, but that the environment is bad and the living conditions are poor there, and you’re afraid of enduring suffering—that’s why you’re unwilling to go. If you have this mentality and this kind of intention, this is being devoid of devotion, and this is evading suffering and refusing to endure suffering. You must accept the suffering you ought to endure—no matter how many difficulties there are, you cannot shirk it; no matter how much danger there is, you must face it; and even if there’s some kind of disaster happening there, you must go, you cannot evade it, and you must meet the difficulties head-on. This is called being devoted. Suppose that, although you know that going there will make your flesh suffer and that there will be danger, you do not refuse or shirk it, and can even brave the danger and overcome the difficulties to be at the vanguard, for the sake of the church’s work and for the sake of doing your duty well. This is called being devoted, this is called fulfilling your responsibilities, and this is called being considerate of God’s intentions. Being able to stand firm in one’s testimony in an environment of hardship is what people must achieve, and it is also the practice people should have, isn’t it? (Yes.) When encountering this kind of situation, you must comprehend it in this way and practice in this way.

If you go somewhere to do your duty, and the living conditions there are good, the environment is nice, the food is quite good—you can eat meat at almost every meal—and your accommodations are also quite comfortable, with heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer, and all the conditions are quite good, how should you approach this kind of working environment when you encounter it? Some people say, “Working in an environment like this is really pleasant. If I do my work in this place, am I indulging in comfort? Am I not being devoted to my duty? Isn’t this wrong?” If you encounter an environment with good living conditions like this, how do you comprehend it? (First, I need to determine whether this is needed for the church’s work. If the work requires me to do my duty in this place, then I should approach this environment correctly, not indulge in comfort, and not focus on eating well or dressing nicely, but instead focus on doing my duty well; only this is being someone with conscience and reason. But if the work doesn’t require that I do my duty there, and I deliberately pick a place with good living conditions for the sake of greater fleshly enjoyment, then that is indulging in comfort.) Even if you’re in an environment with good living conditions, you should not let it keep you from doing your duty well. You should not indulge in such a living environment; just do what you ought to do, and do your duty however it ought to be done. If the host family takes special care of you because you are a leader or a worker, giving you good food to eat and nice things to use, and giving you some special care and special treatment, and you think, “I must accept this from God. This is God being gracious to me, and it is what I ought to enjoy, so I will just enjoy it. I cannot refuse,” then it is wrong for you to think this way. In fact, the way the host family treats and looks after you is much better than how they act when they host ordinary brothers and sisters; it has already far exceeded the standards and principles of hosting. So how should you approach this situation? (I must learn to refuse.) How should you refuse? (First, I ought to fellowship clearly with the host family on the principles of hosting, telling them that they shouldn’t give leaders and workers special care just because they have status, as this makes it easy for leaders and workers to indulge in comfort. Also, I myself must learn to refuse them, not enjoying this special treatment. I should show my refusal through my actual conduct and through my actions.) Do you need to accept this from God, then? (No.) You yourself must know how to discern the situations, and know how to treat them accordingly. Some people say, “This is just how the host family lives. If I refuse, isn’t that refusing God’s grace? Isn’t that asking for trouble? Leaders and workers ought to enjoy good hosting conditions when doing their work.” Is this comprehension correct? (No.) This comprehension is certainly wrong. If you arrive at a place where the living conditions in that area are very good, and what the host family provides for you is also part of the normal expenses and needs in their daily lives, and this is just the norm in their lives, then you should respect their living habits. That’s just what the local living conditions are like. If you refuse, it would seem a bit affected; you should accept it from God and approach it correctly, you should thank God for being gracious to you, and you should not try to make suffering for yourself. But if the treatment the host family provides for you exceeds their daily living standards, meaning they look after you in some special ways, then this is not in accordance with the principles. You should refuse, and you should fellowship on the principles with them; you should not inconvenience them. Isn’t this how you should practice? (Yes.) If you give excuses, saying, “This is just their normal standard of living; they eat lavishly every day and always have all kinds of fresh fruit available, so I should enjoy these things too,” is that right for you to make such excuses? (No.) This is indulging in comfort. Once some people arrive in a place with good living conditions, they don’t want to leave, and they stay in such a place for a particularly long time. They’re afraid that they’d endure suffering if they went somewhere else, so they come up with all kinds of excuses not to go. Even if there is work elsewhere, with problems they need to handle, they just go to finish the tasks in a couple of days and then hurry back to this good place. Isn’t this being afraid of enduring suffering? (Yes.) This is being afraid of enduring suffering, and it is indulging in comfort. They pamper their flesh until they become plump and fair, and they still come up with reasons and excuses, saying, “If I don’t eat well or stay someplace nice, and I get sick, won’t this affect me doing my duty as a leader? To do the work well, I must pamper my flesh, keep my flesh healthy, and be full of energy; only then will I be efficient in doing my duty.” Are these not excuses? (They are.) This is making excuses for indulging in comfort. In short, regardless of whether it is an environment of hardship or an environment of comfort, you should be able to avoid being influenced or constrained by it. If there is no hardship, do not create it for yourself; if there is hardship, do not refuse it. If the environment you encounter requires suffering, you must endure it; no matter how great the hardship is, you must overcome it. The purpose of overcoming it is to do your duty better, not to deliberately give your own flesh a hard time. No matter how great the difficulties are, you should not refuse or evade them; instead, you should think of all kinds of ways to do the work well, do the duty you ought to do well, and say what ought to be said and handle and resolve the problems, and then you can leave. That would be appropriate. When you go somewhere with good living conditions, you must also be able to do your duty and your work normally, without becoming attached to fleshly comfort and enjoyment, but rather focusing in your heart on doing the work well. Of course, in such an environment, you do not need to create additional hardships to make things difficult for yourself or to offer up loyalty or express your resolve to God. Instead, you should not be influenced by this environment, you should not indulge in fleshly comfort, and you should not become degenerate. You should not let the good living conditions and comfortable environment affect the progress of the work, or affect your resolve to suffer and your devotion to your duty. In an environment of comfort, you still must fulfill your responsibilities and do your duty well. If there is work elsewhere and you ought to go, then you must go. You cannot become so caught up in your enjoyment that you forget about your duties and don’t want to go anywhere else just because your flesh is comfortable and at ease and your life is pleasing here. This is wrong. This is refusing to endure suffering, it is indulging in comfort, and it is not being devoted to your duty. Isn’t this so? (Yes.)

Regardless of whether there is hardship in the environment in which you do your duty, your work environment, or your living environment, in short, you should correctly comprehend the issue of suffering, and you should also approach it rationally, with a correct attitude. If the suffering you endure is for the sake of doing your duty well, for the sake of being able to practice in accordance with the truth principles, for the sake of offering up your devotion, and for the sake of being able to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements, then you should accept it. No matter how great the difficulties are, you must overcome them, and you must endure them; you should not refuse or evade them. However, if there is no hardship or difficulty, you eat well and live comfortably, and for a long time you are not faced with any adverse conditions—if everything is good in all respects—then you should not feel uneasy inside. In such an environment of comfort, you should all the more quiet your heart before God, do your spiritual devotions properly, equip yourself with the truth, and enrich your understanding. You should reflect on what your inadequacies during this period have been, or on which corrupt dispositions you’ve revealed and need to know and need to resolve by seeking the truth. Then look at what problems you still have, which problems you do not know how to resolve, what aspects of the truth you still lack, and what aspects you need to enter into and need to improve in. This is the way of practice for approaching the issue of suffering correctly, and for approaching the environments God sets up for you correctly. If this is the way you practice, you’ll basically never be influenced by the external environment. No matter how great the hardship in the external environment is, as long as one can have a correct goal and a correct direction of pursuit in their heart, can remain quiet before God, can think of what the truth principles are and how to practice when they encounter matters, and then make correct judgments and practice correctly, by approaching the issue of suffering in this way, they will ultimately gain some of the positive things that they ought to gain. For example, sometimes you may encounter major problems that need to be handled urgently while doing your duty, requiring you to get up early and go to bed late, or requiring you to skip meals, or requiring you to trek long distances and cross mountains and ridges. In particular, some remote places can’t be accessed by vehicle and don’t even have a bicycle path, so you can only get there by walking. So, how should you act when you’re faced with an environment of hardship like this? These are some particular kinds of hardship. When you encounter these environments, you cannot refuse or evade them. This is the suffering you ought to endure; to do your duty well, you must endure such suffering. However, some special circumstances need to be treated differently. For instance, in some areas where there are churches, conditions are quite adverse, with the CCP frantically carrying out arrests. Some leaders and workers have been arrested, and some brothers and sisters are under strict surveillance by the CCP. The church’s work has been severely affected and needs to be handled. If you go there, you will risk being arrested, and your life might even be in danger. In such situations, you must exercise some wisdom. You can either communicate by letter, or have the local supervisors gather in another area to fellowship, and help them deal with the follow-up work so that the church’s work can get onto the right track as soon as possible. In short, in such dangerous environments, you must be particularly cautious and cannot take risks. In some situations, you can try to take a risk, but in other situations, it is not appropriate to do so. At any rate, once you comprehend the issue of suffering correctly, you should reflect on yourself in light of these correct thoughts and views. Look at the suffering you face in your life and in the course of doing your duty. See which kind of suffering is the suffering you ought to endure, and which kind of suffering is the suffering that accords with the truth principles—this is the kind of suffering you must endure; you must accept it from God. See which kind of suffering is unnecessary, and is just trouble you’ve contrived for yourself—no matter how much of this kind of suffering you endure, God will not remember it. If someone else creates trouble that affects the church’s work, and you ought to clean up this mess, and you ought to fulfill your responsibilities, then you cannot complain; you must see to whatever it is that you ought to handle. For example, some people damage church equipment, devices, and other items, or recklessly commit misdeeds that cause an adverse situation, or muddleheaded people or people of poor caliber botch something—this needs to be dealt with by you. At such times, you cannot say, “They made their bed—now they have to lie in it. This has nothing to do with me. This is not suffering that I ought to endure; I refuse to accept this duty!” Is it right to speak this way? (No, this is not being devoted and not having a sense of responsibility.) This again involves one’s devotion. If it’s something that falls upon you to do, then you have to go see to it and handle it. Even if handling it means salvaging some fiasco, you still must go. You mustn’t argue, and you mustn’t complain, saying, “These muddleheaded people, these foolish people of poor caliber left behind this mess, so why should I be the one to clean it up? Wouldn’t I be enduring suffering beyond what’s necessary? This situation was caused by people; it didn’t come from God.” It is wrong for you to speak this way. It may be that cleaning up the mess and picking up the pieces is not your duty and is not within the scope of your own work, but this matter involves the interests of God’s house, so how should you approach it? If you do not go clean up this mess, then the church’s work will be delayed, and the interests of God’s house will suffer a loss. But to clean up this mess, you have to speak many words to fellowship on the truth and resolve the problems. In this situation, can you persevere in resolving all the problems and thoroughly do the work well? Other people failed to resolve the problems and did not do the work well, so you have to put in more effort to resolve the problems and thoroughly do the work well; only this makes you fit for God’s use. When you are required to suffer, you must endure it; no matter how many problems there are, you must resolve them. When these difficulties crop up in the work, do you still do the work or not? (We still have to do it.) No matter whether your living environment is good or bad, and no matter what your mood is, you must do the work God has entrusted to you well, and you must do this duty well. If you do not want to accept this duty, you can walk away from it; God’s house will not force you. But since you have accepted it, you should do this duty well. Especially when it involves the work of spreading the gospel, all of God’s chosen people have a responsibility. Even if you face difficulties or have to endure great suffering, you must persevere in doing it. Why do I say this? (Because this involves our duty, and people should safeguard the interests of God’s house.) Matters that involve one’s duty are no simple thing. In one regard, they involve people’s life entry, and at the same time, they involve the carrying out of God’s will. Therefore, in approaching these problems, people should seek the truth to resolve them, and should fulfill their duty to safeguard the interests of God’s house—this is an unshirkable responsibility! Having an unshirkable responsibility means being devoted and fulfilling your responsibilities. No matter what problems or difficulties you encounter, do not complain, and when you are angry, do not take it out on the church’s work. Do the work exactly as it should be done; organize gatherings and fellowship on the principles with people, and then clean up this mess, so that the church’s work gets onto the right track and the work that got delayed returns to normal. For example, in the past, some muddleheaded people and evil people held power and served as leaders. They dulled the efficiency of the church’s work or paralyzed it, causing the work of God’s house to suffer losses. Now you must hurry to remedy this, making suitable adjustments to personnel, making suitable adjustments to the work plans and methods, and devising all kinds of ways to speed things up. Before, you might have worked eight hours a day; now, you work an extra two hours every day to bring the work back up to speed and make up for the previous losses in the work. This is called being devoted. This suffering must be endured. Enduring this suffering is meaningful and valuable; it is a good deed, and God will remember it. In doing so, you are practicing the truth. What does practicing the truth refer to here? It means offering up your devotion, safeguarding the interests of God’s house, and making up for the losses suffered in the work. This is practicing the truth, and this is called doing a good deed. It may be that during the time you are doing this work, you are very busy; you can only rest after twelve o’clock at night, and you get up before dawn. You eat your meals in a hurry and then rush back to busy yourself with work. This is because the work is right there in front of you—so many personnel adjustments need to be made, and so many matters need to be handled. Going to bed early won’t do, as some work hasn’t been finished yet. Getting up late won’t do either, as everyone is waiting for you to arrange the work; you must plan out the work to be done today before everyone gets up, and then arrange and assign it. You suffer quite a bit during this month. Your flesh is a bit exhausted and a bit fatigued, you have less time to rest than you did before, and you have lost quite a bit of weight, but after persevering for a month, the progress of the church’s work becomes normal in all regards, and everything is finally settled. What does it mean for everything to be settled? It means that the people assigned to each post are all suitable; no one is causing disruptions and disturbances or causing trouble, no one is shouting slogans or spouting high-sounding ideas, and no one is always being negative. Everyone is able to do their duty normally, and the people in every post are competent in their work. There are no idlers and there are no freeloaders. All items of work are operating normally according to the requirements of the work arrangements, are yielding results, and have gotten onto the right track. Only then are you someone who lives before God. If you are able to seek the truth to resolve any difficulties you encounter, and you do what is within the scope of your own work well, then is all this suffering you endure worth it? (Yes.) It is all too worth it! Some people endure some suffering in order to fulfill their duties, and by the time they reach their forties or fifties, they develop some minor ailments. Some have cranial ringing or tinnitus, while others have cervical spondylosis, or pain in their lower backs and legs. Although they have endured some suffering, they have fulfilled their responsibilities and safeguarded the church’s work. In return for these illnesses and pains, they have gained devotion to God, and they have gained God’s acceptance and approval, and God’s remembrance. Would you say that’s worth it? (Yes.) Each experience of suffering, each experience of safeguarding the work of God’s house, and each experience of offering up your devotion is a wonderful memory for you; they are all the most wonderful memories formed while doing the duty of a created being. Sometimes, when you feel these aches and pains in your body, and then ponder the suffering you have endured over these years in the course of doing your duty, as well as the results in terms of life and results in terms of the work you have gained, you will feel it is worth it, you will have no regrets, and you will have a sense of comfort in your heart. Tell Me, is enduring this suffering worth it? (Yes.) It is incredibly worth it! How does this sense of comfort in your heart come about? (By suffering and paying a price to safeguard the work of God’s house.) You gain a sense of comfort from suffering because these things you do and this work you perform are all positive things, are all safeguarding the existence of the cause of justice, are all safeguarding God’s interests and safeguarding the interests of God’s house, and are all practicing the truth and following God’s way. Your conscience does not accuse you, so you gain a sense of comfort in your heart. All this suffering you endure is for the sake of safeguarding the existence of positive things. What positive things? (For example, the normal progress of the church’s work, the normal progress of the gospel work, the interests of God’s house, and so on—these are all positive things.) That is correct. You safeguard the existence of positive things, ensuring that every item of the church’s work progresses normally and efficiently, that everyone is doing a duty suited to them, and that everyone can submit to the arrangements of God’s house. No one is causing disruptions and disturbances, and no one is neglecting proper tasks and being a freeloader. Personnel and work arrangements are all suitable and are all proper. If anyone causes disruptions and disturbances, you can promptly discover and stop them, and you can fellowship on the truth to resolve this problem. If the person causing disruptions and disturbances can accept the truth, and after you have repeatedly fellowshipped with and helped them and given them an opportunity to repent, they ultimately change, then this is the result of your work, and this is a positive thing. If they don’t accept the truth, and after multiple rounds of fellowship, help, and pruning, they still remain incorrigible, continue to cause disruptions and disturbances, and are always venting negativity, they should be promptly cleared out and handled. Isn’t this all safeguarding the existence of positive things? (Yes.) Furthermore, if you can discover in which parts of the work errors have appeared, or loopholes have appeared, causing the work to suffer losses, and then promptly stop, handle, and resolve them, is this not safeguarding the church’s work? Is this not safeguarding positive things? (Yes.) All of this constitutes safeguarding the existence of positive things. If the suffering you endure is all for the sake of safeguarding the existence of these specific positive things, then when you eventually recall these things that you’ve done, will you not feel some sense of comfort in your heart? You will certainly feel full of comfort inside. However, suppose you recall things bit by bit and you find that behind every instance of your suffering was the desire to satisfy your fleshly enjoyment, or that you suffered to protect your own pride, to preserve your own status and consolidate your own power, or to strive for some kind of personal benefit—material benefits, financial benefits, or psychological benefits—and you have not done a single positive thing. And although you have endured much suffering, every word you spoke, every action you took, and every item of work you did, whether in public or in private, was entirely for yourself, for your own pride and status, and for your own reputation, and what you safeguarded were all negative things. In that case, when you then match yourself against God’s words and against the truth, how will you feel inside? Will you feel good? (No.) Now consider the results of your work: You have not promptly handled, much less resolved, the problems that arise in any part of the work. No matter who causes disruptions and disturbances, as long as it does not involve your status and interests, then regardless of how much the interests of God’s house are harmed, you do not stop or restrict them, but rather let things slide, turn a blind eye, remain indifferent, and pay them no heed. Afterward, when the Above investigates and demands that the responsible parties be handled and made to compensate for the losses, you merely implement and execute it, going through the motions and leaving it at that. You have never proactively resolved the problems that arise in your own work; you are entirely passive. What is the work you are willing to do, and which you take the initiative to do? It’s all the things you do to safeguard your own fame, gain, and status, and to safeguard your own interests; what you safeguard are all negative things. You do these things with tireless enthusiasm, yet you have never taken the initiative to do things like safeguarding the interests of God’s house or safeguarding positive things. When one day you recall this and examine your own actions and deeds, will you not feel guilty inside? When you compare yourself to God’s words, you will be full of guilt inside! If you feel guilty, can you have peace in your heart? Can you have comfort? You will have no comfort and have no peace. You won’t feel any sense of comfort from having endured this suffering—wasn’t it meaningless to endure it, then? (Yes.) You have endured so much suffering, yet you do not know whether what you’ve done is actually a good deed, whether you have offered up your devotion, whether what you’ve done is accepted by God, or whether you are truly someone who attains salvation, in the eyes of God. You have no idea about any of this, and you’re especially terrified inside—could you still feel a sense of comfort? (No.) Having a sense of comfort in your heart after having believed in God to the very end is something you can only gain by walking the right path, being someone God likes, and preparing many good deeds in the course of doing your duty; it’s not something you gain by enduring a certain amount of suffering. If the nature of your suffering is such that it is for the sake of safeguarding the interests of God’s house and for the sake of safeguarding positive things, then ultimately you will gain a sense of comfort from it. If, however, the nature of your suffering is such that it is for the sake of safeguarding your personal interests and for the sake of safeguarding negative things, then ultimately, not only will you fail to gain a sense of comfort from it, but you will also feel a sense of self-accusation and unease in your heart. Those who feel a sense of unease in their hearts always ponder, “What have I gained from believing in God? Look at how many offerings the antichrists have stolen, and how many good articles of clothing, nice appliances, and other good items they have taken for themselves. Look at what they get to enjoy, and look at what I enjoy! What have I gained from enduring so much suffering?” You see, they are capable of saying such things. The fact that they can ask, “What have I gained from believing in God?” proves that they don’t have a sense of comfort in their hearts; they do not feel fulfilled inside, but are empty. Those who have no sense of comfort feel unsettled inside. For those who do have a sense of comfort, why do they have this feeling? It is not just because they endure suffering, but mainly because they have come to understand some truths and have had positive gains in the process of suffering. Those who don’t reap anything from the process of suffering, meanwhile, think that they haven’t gained anything in the end, that they suffered unjustly and that it was not worth it, and they feel they have lost out. In this situation, they feel that God is not righteous and that God is unfair to them, that other people were promoted by God’s house to be leaders and workers and have higher status than them, while they are now inferior and have not gotten to enjoy anything. After suffering and expending themselves for so many years, they end up with nothing, so they feel defiant inside. If they can feel defiant and also wronged, then tell Me, have they gained the truth? (No.) They certainly have not gained the truth. If what people gain is the truth, then when it comes to how they treat all kinds of material things, how they treat status and reputation, how they treat suffering, how they treat their duties, and other such things, they will have the correct comprehension and correct thoughts and views. Their outlook on life and the life path they choose will change; that is, the life within them will change, and the various perspectives behind their pursuit will change as well. When people experience these changes, and when they gain these things, they feel fulfilled. They feel, “In these years of following God, I have understood many truths and gained a lot. My gains are bountiful, and my cup runs over.” Although their flesh is a bit weary, they feel particularly peaceful, comfortable, happy, and comforted in their hearts. By contrast, those who suffer for the sake of pursuing status and reputation don’t just ultimately fail to obtain ample benefits—they also get revealed and eliminated. Seeing that they have no hope of gaining blessings, they feel they have lost out, they become even more averse to the truth in their hearts, and they lose their faith in God—some even become disinterested in believing in God. It’s just like some religious people who have believed in the Lord all their lives; when they feel in the end that they haven’t gained anything, what is it that they say? They say, “The Lord Jesus is like a wall blocking my way, preventing me from going forward and making it so I cannot see any light.” This is what believers who believe their whole lives ultimately gain. For them to say such an outrageously rebellious thing—don’t you think it’s terrible to hear something like this? (Yes.)

People who believe in God but do not accept the truth always scheme for the sake of their own fleshly interests, and they are all willing to suffer for the sake of their own fame, gain, and status; as long as they can enjoy the benefits of status, they feel satisfied in their hearts. Their every action and deed is for the sake of their own fleshly enjoyment; they never accept the truth, they do not safeguard the church’s work, and they do not safeguard the interests of God’s house. The work they do is not to safeguard the existence of the cause of justice, but rather to safeguard their own fame, gain, and status, and to safeguard their own interests. What can they gain by suffering only for their own interests? They gain nothing; it is simply wasted effort and completely futile. Some people live their days very bitterly, like ascetics, neither eating well nor enjoying any good things, focusing only on running about more and expending themselves more. They set many rules and regulations for themselves, making themselves suffer considerably. Some even work themselves sick. Yet in the end, they do not gain the truth or prepare many good deeds. This is a tragic thing. What makes it tragic? Where is the root of the problem? They only suffer for the sake of their own fame, gain, and status, and they only pursue their own personal interests. They place “gain” above all else, and prioritize their own interests above anything. They never love the truth in their hearts. Therefore, they only busy themselves and suffer for the sake of their own fleshly interests, never suffering in the slightest to safeguard the existence of positive things. Where are they when evil people cause disruptions and disturbances in the church’s work? Where are they when the great red dragon arrests God’s chosen people, or when a Judas sells out the church? They see these things but pretend not to see them. They know about them but pretend not to know about them. Only after the matter has been handled do they show up, saying, “I didn’t know about this. If I had known, I would have handled it. I didn’t fulfill my responsibility; I must repent to God, and I must apologize to the brothers and sisters.” Once the matter has been handled, they jump out like a buffoon. Yet the moment a problem arises, they scurry into a hole like a mouse and disappear without a trace. When they are truly needed to step forward to safeguard justice, to safeguard the interests of God’s house, and to safeguard positive things, they never step up. They offend no one—they just choose to be people pleasers, playing deaf and dumb, and pretending not to see or hear anything. When evil people cause disruptions and disturbances in the church’s work, they know full well who is causing the disturbances, but they just will not expose them, refusing to say who exactly did it. Someone advises them, saying, “Don’t be a people pleaser. If you expose the evil people and cleanse them away from the church, then even if you offend people and are met with cold stares, you will have ultimately safeguarded the interests of God’s house and offered up your devotion.” They still come up with excuses and act evasively, saying, “I don’t know the details; I need to look into it,” and then make a quick getaway. But if anyone has some objections or has opinions about them, or if problems arise in their work that affect their status and prestige in people’s hearts, then they see it as a disaster. They can neither eat nor sleep; at one in the morning, they are still pondering how to salvage their image. In the morning, without even eating breakfast, they start calling everyone together for a gathering to justify and defend themselves, explaining why they acted that way and where the mistake lay in doing so. They also apologize to everyone, hoping that no one will misunderstand them; they claim that it wasn’t that they were unwilling to do the work well, but rather that they were busy with other things and didn’t have the time to attend to it—in addition to not understanding the actual situation—which was why the mistake occurred in the work. Once they have won everyone’s favor and tricked everyone into giving them sympathy and recognition, they feel secure inside: “Well, the work has been done properly. Now I can have a peaceful, comfortable sleep and can enjoy a meal. These days, there are always issues with personnel adjustments, there are always endless tasks to do, and there are always endless problems to resolve in the work—look how exhausted I am!” When problems arise in the church’s work, and the brothers and sisters ask them how to handle them, they say, “There’s no rush. It’s fine as long as someone is doing that work, as long as there is someone in every post and everyone is busy. The work of God’s house won’t be finished in a day or two. To do the work, you have to approach it with a long-haul mindset, working after the sun rises and resting after the sun sets, without rushing or feeling any sense of urgency. Doing a bit less won’t make things that much worse, and doing a bit more won’t make things that much better; there’s no need for us to exhaust ourselves so much. If we get sick from exhaustion, who will do the work of God’s house in the future? Won’t it still be up to us? If we collapse from exhaustion, won’t God’s house still have to pay for our medical treatment? We can’t exhaust ourselves that much; we have to hold back a little.” What do you think of their viewpoint? (It’s wrong.) When problems arise in the church’s work and someone causes disruptions and disturbances, this requires you to step forward to resolve the problems and handle those who bear responsibility. Some of these people will have to be dismissed, and some will have to be sent to ordinary churches or even B groups. It will be impossible for you to avoid offending people, and you will be hated by others, berated by others, and judged and ostracized by others, and even schemed against by petty people. But those people ponder in their hearts, “You want me to handle evil people? That would mean offending others. I’m not that foolish! I just won’t handle them! Whether the work of God’s house is disturbed or whether the interests of God’s house are harmed—what does that have to do with me? Even if a few individuals stir up trouble and cause disruptions and disturbances, it doesn’t affect the big picture, and the work is still being done, so why should they be handled? Besides, if I handle them, won’t they hate me? Even if this work is done well, no one will say anything good about me, and the Above won’t know either. I’ll offend people and then have to suffer their exclusion and suffer their cold stares. No way I’m going to endure that suffering!” When faced with the issue of evil people causing disruptions and disturbances, they never step forward, they never safeguard the interests of God’s house, and they do not do the work of safeguarding justice. They do not even say a single word to expose or stop them, deeply afraid of offending people and being judged or being retaliated against. In order to prevent people from misunderstanding them, and to safeguard their status and image among people, they persistently hold gatherings, painstakingly justifying and defending themselves, and talking on and on without end. Yet when it comes to matters of safeguarding the church’s work, they do not have a thing to say and do not expend the slightest bit of effort. Do such people have any good deeds? Where are their good deeds? In the end, when they find themselves in God’s presence, will they be able to answer to Him? (No.) They still feel that they have endured a lot of suffering in doing the church’s work, but what are they actually suffering for? Are they suffering for the cause of justice and for the work of God’s house? (No, they are suffering for their own interests.) They can endure any suffering to safeguard their own interests, but will not endure the slightest bit of suffering to safeguard the interests of God’s house. Such people are too selfish, and they do not walk the right path, do they? (Yes.) They do absolutely nothing that is beneficial to the church’s work, but they do everything that benefits their own prestige and status, not missing a single thing; they only care about safeguarding their own interests. People like this are so shameful! They suffer only to safeguard their own interests, yet they still claim credit from God and demand rewards from Him. Isn’t this despicable? (Yes.) Such people are too selfish and despicable; they have no conscience and they have no reason—in a word, they have no humanity. This type of person does not walk the right path. If someone is dissatisfied with them and discerns them behind their back, or even reports them to those above and exposes that they do not do actual work but have instead done some things that cause disruptions and disturbances, then after hearing this, they harbor hatred toward the person who exposed them and go after them. They do not examine themselves, nor do they treat people correctly. Instead, they oppose people tit for tat, seizing on things they can use against them and finding fault with them. They even use God’s words to attack people. Is this not blaspheming God’s words and blaspheming the truth? This is using the truth to attack and retaliate against others in order to safeguard one’s own status. In private, some evil people judge God and blaspheme God, judge the work arrangements of God’s house, and express dissatisfaction with a certain aspect of the work arrangements of God’s house or dissatisfaction with leaders and workers at a certain level of God’s house. After hearing this, these people just ignore it and act as if they haven’t heard it; they never step forward to safeguard God’s name or to safeguard the work of God’s house, nor do they expose the evil people. If you want to be a people pleaser and don’t dare expose evil people, then you can still report them to those above; this would count as fulfilling some of your responsibilities. People like this, however, cannot even fulfill this tiny bit of responsibility. In order to safeguard their fleshly interests and their prestige and status, they would pay any price, go through hell and high water, and endure any kind of suffering. Yet they never pay any price or endure any suffering to safeguard the existence of positive things or to ensure that the truth can proceed unhindered. Whenever these matters that disrupt and disturb the church’s work arise and require someone to step forward to safeguard the existence of positive things, you never see these people anywhere, or hear any of their opinions or viewpoints. They have no viewpoints; they just stand there playing deaf and dumb, not speaking up or stating their position, offending no one. They are very afraid of offending people, but not afraid of offending God. This is how they approach the truth, approach the commission given to them by God, approach their duty, and approach positive things. For this type of person, safeguarding the existence of positive things and safeguarding the existence of the cause of justice has nothing to do with them—whoever does this is a fool, and in any case, they will not do it. They never say a single word to safeguard positive things, nor do they do a single thing to safeguard God’s work. Once problems arise, they retreat into their shells like turtles, yet in the end, they still demand rewards from God. God says, “You haven’t suffered for the truth at all.” They even complain, saying, “I have endured so much suffering, I have done so much running around, and I have forsaken and expended myself so much. What have I gotten to enjoy? What have I gained?” This one statement exposes their intentions in believing in God, and proves that they only endured suffering and expended themselves to gain blessings, not to gain the truth. They have not accepted the truth and have not embarked on the right path, so in the end, they do not gain any truth. This is inevitable; you reap what you sow. Therefore, in viewing the issue of suffering, in one regard, you must have correct thoughts and views; in another regard, and most importantly, you must examine what the nature of your suffering is, whether the suffering you endure has value and whether it has significance, and whether this suffering is suffering that you ought to endure. If it is suffering that you ought to endure, suffering endured to safeguard positive things, and suffering endured to bear witness for God, then you are duty-bound to endure this suffering; you should accept it from God and should not evade it.

Some people are always saying, “I have suffered persecution and tribulations as a believer in God, and what have I gained?” Is it right to say this? (No.) How is it wrong? (The fact that they can say this proves that they have not gained any truth, and that they are not walking the path of pursuing the truth.) There is much suffering that people ought to endure, so must they gain something from suffering? This involves people’s understanding and viewpoints regarding suffering. If this suffering is what you ought to endure, what you must endure, and what God has preordained, then what exactly can you gain by enduring this suffering? For example, people may not necessarily gain anything from enduring the suffering of raising children or the suffering of being persecuted for believing in God. So, will you endure this suffering or not? This depends on whether the path one walks is correct and whether they are someone who pursues the truth. If one seeks the truth in all things while experiencing God’s work, and has true submission to God, they will gain things from enduring this suffering. This requires people to have the resolve to submit, and to submit to God’s orchestrations; they cannot approach suffering with a transactional mindset. Some people say, “If I put in some effort, I should get something in return; if I endure a bit of suffering, I should reap a bit of sweetness. Only then is this suffering worthwhile, and only this is where the value of my suffering lies.” Is this viewpoint right? (No.) Then, when it comes to the matter of suffering, what kind of understanding and what kind of comprehension is correct? (If the suffering we endure is preordained by God and is what we ought to endure, then we are duty-bound to accept it. Even if we gain nothing in the end, we should not complain. We should have an attitude of submission, submitting to the orchestrations and arrangements of the Creator. At the same time, as we endure the suffering, we should focus on seeking the truth and gaining the truth. In this way, the suffering we endure is valuable and meaningful.) Often, the positive purpose of suffering is to safeguard the existence of positive things, and to ultimately be able to gain something, and be able to obtain the truth and come to know the truth. This is an excellent goal. However, in fact, suffering is often experienced and endured in the course of an uneventful process. When you sum it up in the short term, you find that you haven’t gained anything, that you are quite physically fatigued, that you may even have to endure some illness, and that you have made no progress in the truth, have no deeper entry in terms of life, and have not gained a further understanding of God’s intentions. Is enduring this suffering futile, then? Some people think, “In this situation, can I pray to God to remove me from such an environment of hardship? Do I then have grounds to evade and refuse such an environment of hardship?” Is thinking like this correct? (No.) You need to understand the matter in this way: To be able to gain some positive, good things from suffering is what one would desperately hope for, and it is the best result that suffering can ultimately bring. However, if the suffering you endure in your daily life is arranged by God and is preordained by God, and is what you must experience to attain salvation, then you must accept it from God and approach it correctly. How can you approach it correctly? You must have a correct thought and view: You must understand that suffering is a part of human life, and is a stage people must experience as they live, which no one can escape. Of course, it is also a stage everyone must experience to attain salvation. It may be that you do not gain any sense of comfort in the end, but you are willing each time you endure suffering, can accept it from God and have an attitude of submission, and never try to bargain with God. Walking such a path and making this choice is the responsibility a created being ought to fulfill, and it is the attitude you ought to have toward the life journey arranged by the Creator; it is the attitude a person ought to have toward life’s hardships. Accepting hardships and being able to endure suffering is a part of fulfilling your responsibilities, so you should not evade them, nor should you choose whether or not to endure them. Everyone must endure some suffering in life and in the process of believing in God to attain salvation. Of course, the suffering we are talking about is not the kind people endure to pursue fame, gain, and status, or to pursue their own fleshly interests, but rather some suffering that everyone must endure in the process of walking the proper path in human life and pursuing salvation. This kind of suffering is a part of life, a part of the process of survival, and even more so, a stage people must experience to ultimately attain salvation. You should approach it correctly. This is the attitude you ought to have toward environments of hardship, and it is also a responsibility you ought to fulfill. That is, suffering is also a part of doing your duty and fulfilling your responsibilities as a created being; it is not something extra. It is something the Creator arranges for every created being. The extent, timing, and duration of suffering are different for everyone, but everyone must experience it; everyone must clear this hurdle. This is a responsibility people ought to fulfill. If you want to do well as a created being, you should approach suffering correctly; you should accept it from God, you should not refuse it, and you should not feel resistant toward it. Of course, even more so, you should not use suffering to claim credit or try to bargain with God, but rather accept suffering as a responsibility you ought to fulfill. Would you say that comprehending it this way is pure? Does it accord with the truth? (Yes.) By comprehending it this way, won’t you have a deeper and more practical understanding of suffering, as well as a correct mentality? (Yes, this way I won’t feel resistant toward suffering, and it will be easy to submit when I find myself in certain environments.) Being able to submit and not feeling resistant—this is the attitude a created being ought to have toward suffering. Even if you endure a lot of suffering and pay many prices in the process of pursuing the truth and fulfilling the duty of a created being, and even if you suffer some persecution and tribulations because of your belief in God, once you have a correct comprehension of enduring this suffering and paying this price, you will not feel that enduring this suffering is a kind of capital for yourself. You will not view yourself as someone of merit because of your suffering, nor will you show off how much suffering you have endured to bear witness to your own hard work and contributions so that others regard you highly. You will not flaunt your seniority, rest on your laurels, or try to bargain with God, much less demand special treatment in God’s house or claim credit from anyone because you have endured a lot of suffering. If you believe that suffering is a responsibility which you as a created being ought to carry out and ought to fulfill before the Creator, then you should not use suffering as capital to demand rewards from God or to get God to save you, right? (Right.) If you act this way, can it inspire your resolve to pursue the truth? (No.) Acting this way is obviously trying to make a transaction with God, which is something He detests.

In the past, many leaders and workers endured some suffering, and of course those days were quite difficult to get through. Because of the arrests and persecution carried out by the great red dragon, the environment was extremely adverse. Leaders and workers were all at risk of being arrested and imprisoned for doing church work; some people were wanted and could only flee and live in exile, unable to return home, and—feeling lonely and helpless on their own—they would often weep bitterly and pray before God. Whether it be in terms of their living conditions or in terms of being in an environment where they were hunted, they endured some suffering. Afterward, these people would always feel they had made immense contributions to God’s house and to the work of God’s house, that they had rendered meritorious service to God’s house, and that when God gains great glory, they should have a share in His glory. With this kind of opinion and attitude, they would often testify on various occasions about how much they had suffered, which year and month was the most painful for them, and how they were at the time so tormented that they couldn’t eat during the day and were often awakened by nightmares at night, and so tormented that their faces turned sallow and they lost a lot of weight. Those who heard them all felt admiration and envy; of course, a few individuals would also feel jealous. There were also some who were moved to tears by the experiences of hardship those people recounted, saying, “It is truly admirable that you suffered so much! You’ve moved us to tears like this—God is surely very moved too. Your suffering was so worth it. You’re incredible!” They wouldn’t testify about their own suffering only on one occasion; rather, on many different occasions, they would often testify about how much they suffered, and how much they accomplished and how much they contributed to God’s house through this suffering. Yet they just wouldn’t talk about how much of the truth they came to understand, what corrupt dispositions they cast off, how much they grew in life, what testimonies they bore for God, what results they achieved in doing church work, or what just causes they defended, through their suffering. They had no such testimony to give. All they would talk about was how they suffered and how much they suffered. Their ultimate goal was to let people know that they had worked hard and made great contributions, that these contributions were indelible, that they were pillars and they were mainstays in God’s house, and that they should enjoy special treatment, and should enjoy people’s veneration—people should not only envy and admire them, but also exalt them and testify to their suffering. Look at how “incredible” and how “worthwhile” their suffering was! They received everyone’s praise, with the voices of praise rising one after another and constantly ringing in their ears. Tell Me, was their suffering worthwhile? Were these people incredible? Could they share in God’s glory with Him? (No.) Then what was their purpose in testifying about themselves in this way? (To get people to see that they had suffered a lot, so that people would look up to them and hold them in high regard.) They wanted to gain glory, did they not? (Yes.) They tried to exchange their suffering for glory; they could not have been doing it entirely in exchange for crowns and rewards. Most importantly, they wanted to gain glory among people, they wanted people to worship them, and they wanted people to look up to them and remember them. Were they asking for a lot? Were their ambitions grand? (Yes, they were grand.) Even I have never dared to talk about gaining glory among you. What do I always talk about? Bringing you before God, bringing you into the truth reality, helping you understand the truth, have a path to follow, and know how to practice in accordance with the principles, and bringing you onto the path of salvation, so that you can all be saved—but never do I talk about gaining glory. However, people of that kind specifically testify about how they suffer and how they pay a price, talking about how they were arrested and persecuted by the government and slandered and judged by worldly people, how much ostracization they suffered, how many grievances they suffered, how much physical pain they endured, and how they overcame it, for the sake of believing in God and doing their duty. Not only do they want to testify about their suffering, but they also want to testify about how great they were, what a high plane they were on, and how unique they were, while enduring their suffering, as well as how above the flesh they were during this process. They want to gain glory, do they not? (They do.) If someone is always testifying about how they’ve suffered, do you think they’re aiming to spread a correct way of viewing suffering, or to testify about and disseminate the story of their own suffering? (They want to testify about and disseminate the story of their own suffering.) They advocate using suffering to bargain with God and share in His glory with Him—this is what they advocate. Everywhere they go, they testify about how many times they were beaten, cursed at, driven out, and persecuted by religious people, and how much they suffered, while preaching the gospel; how much they suffered from being rejected, slandered, and verbally abused by relatives, friends, and worldly people; and how much they suffered from being hunted by the government, having to hide everywhere, not having a home to return to, and even having no place to lay their heads just like the Son of man. There are also some people who testify about how many difficulties they overcame and how much they suffered as they overcame the sickness of the flesh while doing their duty. They frequently proclaim these things before others, but they never share anything about their life experiences; they only preach and testify about the story of their own suffering. Their aim is simply to get people to regard them highly. Tell Me, they want people to regard them highly—but what do they want from God? Do they just want God to regard them highly as well? That’s not all they want, right? Then they share the same view as Paul: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: From now on there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7–8). They even end up bargaining with God, saying, “God has gained glory, so I should also gain glory along with Him! Because I suffered together with God, I also have a share in God’s glory! God has put on a golden crown—He should also give me a jewel. Shouldn’t I enjoy the worship and veneration of humankind just as God does?” Isn’t this what they’re getting at? (Yes.) Then is it good for them to testify about their suffering in this way? (No.) Why is it not good? (They want to put themselves on an equal footing with God, which is something He detests. They are also vying with God for people.) Let’s set aside what their personal viewpoints and motives are—just in terms of what they fellowship about, how many people who do not understand the truth will they mislead? People already lack a pure comprehension of suffering and do not understand this aspect of the truth. Moreover, judging by the essence of people’s fleshly corrupt dispositions, everyone likes receiving blessings and receiving rewards. Yet people like this are always testifying about their own suffering; their intentions, and their statements and actions in and of themselves, pander to the desires and demands of corrupt humankind. By speaking in this way and acting in this way, they fuel people’s ambitions and desires, they fuel people’s desire to exchange suffering for blessings, and they also fuel the very idea and practice of exchanging suffering for rewards from God and bargaining with Him. As a result of this, do people have more submission to God or less submission? (Less submission.) Why do they have less submission? (It is because people already have corrupt dispositions—when they endure a bit of suffering, they’re disposed to treat it as capital with which they can strike deals with God, and when they’re then misled by such people’s statements and practices, they feel even more that exchanging suffering for blessings is justified, and they are even less able to recognize their own despicable intention of striking deals with God. And so, they are even less able to submit to God.) They feel they have a basis for doing this, and feel that they have backing. And when they band together, they feel even more powerful: “There is strength in numbers. The law cannot be enforced when everyone is an offender. Everyone thinks this way, comprehends it this way, and pursues this way. If we all bargain with God and coerce Him, there’s nothing He can do about us.” They are clearly forming a crowd to cause trouble, and banding together to use heresies and fallacies to oppose God. By constantly testifying about their own suffering, are those people not misleading others? Are they not further corrupting people? (They are.) Therefore, their constant testifying about their own suffering doesn’t just fail to edify people or yield positive results—on the contrary, it actually misleads and corrupts people. What role, then, are such people playing? (The role of Satan.) They are playing the role of Satan. This is exactly the same as Satan misleading people. Satan says, “Man was not created by God. There is no God in the world at all. Man evolved from apes. Step by step, apes began to walk upright and gradually evolved into modern humans!” Upon hearing this, people accept it: “Man was not created by God. There is no God in the world. We cannot see where God is, but we can see that apes are somewhat similar to man, so we are certain that man evolved from apes.” When people accept Satan’s heresies and fallacies, is it a simple acceptance? It’s not like eating something that goes into your stomach without producing any reaction—rather, what happens is that a certain thought and view of Satan enters people’s hearts, seeping into their blood and marrow. People’s thoughts and views are subsequently changed, and their satanic nature then comes into being. After this, people develop doubts and feel resistant toward the words God speaks, and refuse to accept them. They deny that God created all things and holds sovereignty over all things, thinking, “Man evolved from apes. He was not created by God.” As for God holding sovereignty over all things and orchestrating all things, and man’s fate being in God’s hands, people no longer believe these facts. Then, Satan further corrupts you, telling you, “Man will triumph over nature,” and “To battle with Heaven is great fun! To battle with earth is great fun! To battle with people is great fun!” After hearing this, you accept Satan’s claims and go against the laws of nature to do this and do that. These thoughts and views of Satan imperceptibly influence you, assimilating you bit by bit. When you once again hear the words “God holds sovereignty over all things and holds sovereignty over your fate,” you feel, “I can’t see how God holds sovereignty over everything. There is no God!” Well? Have people not been completely captured by Satan? (Yes.) Being captured by Satan begins with accepting a fallacious thought and view.

Some people always testify about their own suffering and spread fallacious viewpoints about suffering. Once people accept these thoughts and views—combined with the fact that they have ambitions and desires, and have corrupt dispositions—they view it as certain that they can exchange their suffering for blessings and use their suffering as a means to share in God’s glory with Him. Then, they all go and suffer, and they all focus on enduring suffering. None of them practice the truth, none of them focus on listening to God’s words, and none of them put effort into the truth. Instead, they compete to see who can endure suffering more, they compete to see who endures more suffering, they compete to see who eats worse food and wears shabbier clothes, and they compete to see who gets up earlier and goes to bed later—this is what they compete over. Some people don’t go eat when it’s mealtime. They say they’re too busy doing their duty to eat, so they skip a meal. Upon hearing this, some other people say, “What’s the big deal about skipping a meal occasionally? I have a stomach condition, but it hasn’t delayed my performance of my duty.” And then someone else adds, “You have a stomach condition—well I have a stomach ulcer.” Listen to what these people say—do they possess the truth reality? They just compete over who suffers more and whose illness is more severe, believing that God is most pleased with the one who suffers the most. Do they possess any reason when they say such things? Aren’t they mentally deranged? Where do these manifestations of being mentally deranged come from? They are caused by people accepting all kinds of heresies and fallacies. They don’t understand the truth. Within God’s words, all aspects of the truth have been fellowshipped clearly, yet they neither eat and drink God’s words nor seek the truth. When things happen to them, they act based on their notions and imaginings, and act based on the various fallacious thoughts and views instilled in them by Satan. They stray further and further from God, and ultimately become mentally abnormal. So, constantly testifying about one’s own suffering is, in My view, inappropriate. What do you think? (It’s not appropriate. The nature of this is particularly serious.) The nature of this is serious, and it brings about serious consequences. If you believe that suffering can be exchanged for rewards and blessings, you should seek the truth regarding this matter. If you constantly try to argue with God and pray, saying, “God, look at how, during my years of believing in You, I’ve forsaken my family and career to do my duty. I’ve also suffered persecution by the CCP and endured so much suffering. I’ve gotten sick from exhaustion, and now I’m middle-aged and in poor health. For the sake of all the suffering I’ve endured, could You give me some rewards or a crown in the end? I’d even settle for being a centurion in the kingdom in the future,” then see how you feel inside after praying like this. If you cannot realize that your prayer contains adulterations and contains motives, then that spells trouble for you; I’m afraid your corrupt dispositions are unresolvable. Therefore, if you possess reason, you should present your viewpoints and your motives to God in prayer, ask for the enlightenment and illumination of the Holy Spirit, and let God vet things for you. Before you achieve certainty on whether or not your viewpoints are correct, you absolutely must not spread or testify about your thoughts and views among the brothers and sisters, much less testify about how you have suffered and how you have paid a price. If you do this, you do not possess any reason. This is the same as Paul’s pursuit. For one thing, spreading word of and testifying about your own suffering like this will affect other people. Additionally, once you mislead people, and everyone worships you and follows you, the nature of this becomes serious. Not only will the suffering you endured have been in vain, but you will also be punished by God. So, what is the nature of testifying about how you suffer and pay a price? Testifying about your own suffering in this way is misleading people; it is the way Paul acted. You are spreading heresies and fallacies to bear witness to yourself. No matter how much you suffer, there is no need to flaunt it. If you are willing to suffer, then just keep on going. If you feel that you have suffered enough and are qualified to bargain with God, then go before God and pray to Him. If God does not approve of you, then you must reflect on whether this approach of trying to exchange suffering for rewards is viable. If it’s not, then you must choose the correct path in order to gain God’s approval. Suppose that you obstinately cling to your own course, thinking, “My suffering is positive. It’s justified that I receive a reward for suffering so much. I must endure suffering that others do not endure, and bear hardships that others cannot bear, because as the saying goes, ‘One must endure the greatest hardships in order to become the greatest of men.’ Isn’t this viewpoint quite good? It’s so grand, and so correct! I must adhere to it, and never give it up. This is a secret weapon for gaining rewards and gaining blessings!” Is it a secret weapon? Is this not trying to strike deals with God? Perhaps God, seeing that you have suffered for many years, worked hard, and made great contributions, will bestow some grace upon you, making you robust and curing you of every ailment; or He might give you some intelligence and wisdom, so that you will no longer be so foolish. These are all things that can be easily done. Isn’t this what you’re after? It would be all too easy for God to bestow these things upon people. But is there any value in exchanging your suffering for these things? (No.)

What do you hope to gain from believing in God? Do you have goals? (Yes.) Are your goals in believing in God clear now? (They are clear now.) In believing in God, what you should and shouldn’t do; what path you should walk and what path you should reject; how you should comprehend and understand certain issues and certain aspects of things; which thoughts and views are correct, positive, and should be possessed by people, and which thoughts and views are distorted, stray from the right path, are negative things, and should be discerned and rejected by people—do you know these things? (A little bit.) Whatever kind of suffering one is able to endure is governed by that person’s thoughts and views. Of course, taking this a step further, since it involves people’s thoughts and views, it involves their choices. To be more precise, since it involves people’s choices, it involves the path they walk. And since it involves the path people walk, it involves their salvation. Therefore, although suffering seems to be a commonplace issue, if you harbor incorrect thoughts and views on it, and incorrect pursuits of it, it’s very likely to cause you to head in the opposite direction of the path that God has pointed out for you. The ultimate result will be that, when God’s work concludes, you will not only fail to receive rewards, and not only fail to be saved, but will even be eliminated—this is quite a terrible thing. In order to prevent this terrible consequence from ultimately occurring, you must have correct thoughts and views, and a correct comprehension, regarding the issue of suffering, and then determine the correct principles of practice. If your thoughts, views, and principles of practice lead you to the path of salvation, then the thoughts and views you possess and the path of practice you have chosen are correct, are positive, and are in line with the truth. If the thoughts and views you possess, and the principles of practice you have chosen, do not lead you to the path of salvation and cannot enable you to attain salvation, then the thoughts and views you possess, and the principles of practice you have chosen, are wrong. This much is certain. That is, if the thoughts and views you have chosen, and the path of practice you have determined, lead you astray, and run counter to the path of salvation God has taught you, then the path you have chosen is wrong. You should reject it; you should change your thoughts and views, and change your principles of practice and methods of practice. This will be beneficial for your attainment of salvation. Do you understand? (Yes.) None of the matters involved in attaining salvation are insignificant. Even with issues that seem very inconspicuous and are easily overlooked, you must treat them with caution and ponder them earnestly, and then establish correct thoughts, views, and paths of practice—only this is the practice that people should possess to attain salvation. You must not be muddled about this.

Our fellowship just now covered some wrong viewpoints and distorted manifestations people have regarding suffering, as well as the correct thoughts and views people should possess and the principles they should practice. Since we have been talking about how God incarnate views suffering, what we fellowshipped on just now, on the one hand, represents some of My opinions and evaluations regarding suffering, and on the other hand, represents some of My thoughts, views, and principles of practice regarding suffering. Whether it be thoughts and views or principles of practice, what we fellowshipped on just now pertains to your revelations and manifestations in your daily lives or in the process of doing your duties. So let’s take a look at how God incarnate approaches the issue of suffering. I fellowshipped with you just now on how to approach the matter of suffering. Suffering is a part of man’s life and survival. Looking at it from the perspective of normal humanity, suffering is something that is bound to happen. Living in this human world, living in this material world, everyone must endure plenty of suffering from the time they’re born to the time they die, including fleshly discomfort, unpleasantness, and unhappiness. Similarly, I have also felt such suffering living in the environment of the real world. I have experienced and endured much pain, and I am experiencing some suffering now as well. This is an inevitable process, so, from the perspective of normal humanity, I naturally accept such suffering, or naturally experience it. My flesh feels the suffering, but there is no resistance and no rejection in My heart. I find the presence of this suffering to be as natural as the air people breathe or the sunlight they feel. I don’t feel it is something extra, and I don’t feel it is superfluous, much less do I feel it is something I brought on Myself. This is how I feel. That is to say, regardless of what caused the suffering, or at what stage I go through the suffering, or whether it is a kind of suffering I encounter in My daily life or a kind that I ought to endure in doing My work, all I feel is that an event is taking place. One must avail themselves of a certain principle and think of a way to handle and to resolve this event. Handling and resolving these things sometimes requires enduring some suffering, but regardless of whether I endure considerable suffering or just endure a bit of light suffering, it all just feels like a process to Me. It doesn’t feel like an added burden; it is a feeling as simple as this. When it comes to suffering, besides this simple feeling, I have never proclaimed what suffering I have endured. For example, when I go to some places where the conditions are relatively poor to come into contact with people and fellowship with people, it doesn’t feel to Me that I’m enduring all that much suffering, and I have never felt that My suffering is some kind of contribution that I make to people. Rather, I feel it is very normal and not worth bringing up. I have never treated suffering as some major event to flaunt, to publicize, or make a big deal of in order to get people to regard Me highly; I have never done such things. You are the ones who proclaim what suffering I have endured—you have done this quite a lot, but I never have.

I once went somewhere to chat and speak with the people there, and to fellowship about some things with them. By the time I finished fellowshipping, it was past mealtime, and I left without eating. Later, some people spread the word: “God fellowshipped with us all morning. He didn’t even drink a sip of water, and He left without having a meal.” After one person said this, the word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, and many people came to know about it. What was the result of them finding out? These people treated this trivial matter as a topic for formal fellowship in gatherings, and fellowshipped about it as if it were the truth. I was baffled: What is there to talk about regarding this matter? What is the value of talking about it? What is the use of fellowshipping about this matter? Sometimes I chat with you, talking about things in daily life or matters at work. This is a very normal thing, just as normal as the conversations you have with each other. It’s nothing to boast about and nothing to publicize. Why did they publicize this behind My back? I was quite baffled. Later, as they spread word of it a lot, I figured it out: They believed this was testifying to God incarnate’s experiences of suffering, and that they were spreading the truth, not just spreading word of some event. I say that if you want to testify to God incarnate’s experiences of suffering, that is completely unnecessary. Meeting, chatting, and speaking with you is something I do willingly. I do not do it for anyone to see, I do not do it to win your hearts, and I am not putting on an act. As for the fact that sometimes when I fellowship for a long time I don’t eat or drink anything, that is not deliberate—it is because I am not thirsty, and not very hungry. If I were unbearably hungry, I would tell you to get Me some food or have you make Me a simple meal. I would absolutely not put up with the hunger; I would not stand on ceremony with you. Does leaving without eating when it’s mealtime count as suffering? Judging by what you are publicizing, it seems as though I am doing things for show. Why do I feel so uncomfortable hearing this? It is as if I am doing this to let you see how much I suffer, how much I can endure, how much love I have for you, and how much I have contributed to you, so that after I leave, you will broadcast this for Me, publicizing how much I have suffered and how many things I have done for you, as if I am using this method to win you over. Is this My aim? (No.) This is not My aim. I visit you to chat and speak with you, and sometimes I go back without eating when it’s mealtime. This is very normal. But you treat this as some major event, thinking that I have suffered, that there is truth to be sought in this, that you should emulate it and should follow suit, and you even disseminate this matter as if it were the truth. Disseminating this matter amounts to spreading idle chatter. I do not like you spreading idle chatter. I feel repulsed and disgusted when I hear about this. I am disgusted by anyone who spreads idle chatter. If I fellowship with you on some content involving the truth or involving church work, then this content is what you need—you can write it down and share and fellowship about it with everyone. But when you spread the word about how I suffered from hunger or from the cold somewhere—when you spread these things, I feel disgusted. I am utterly repulsed by the spreading of idle chatter. Why are you so active in doing this kind of thing? Do you think it makes Me happy? I am not like you; it doesn’t make Me happy at all. And I’ve put up with this for so many years. If I knew who was the first to spread these words, I would have to ask them, “Why did you spread these words? What is your goal? What is your intention? You harbor ill intentions! This amounts to causing a disturbance! Do you know that you have affected My mood? Spreading idle chatter like this is a disguised way of restricting My freedom; that is its nature.” I am repulsed by people who spread idle chatter, especially some who never fellowship the truth and never fellowship about anything involving practicing the truth or involving church work, but only talk about this kind of meaningless thing and spread this sort of idle chatter, even spreading it in great detail. For example, I’m chatting with you and I cough a few times, and some people spread this behind My back. Is this what you should be spreading? Is this your duty? I have been disgusted by the spreading of idle chatter for so many years. Some people spread idle chatter in exactly this way. As the chatter gets passed around, quite a few people hear about it, and some muddleheaded people even imitate My coughing. What use is there in imitating this? If you were to imitate how I fellowship the truth to resolve problems, that would be of some benefit to the work of God’s house. If you were to imitate how I safeguard the interests of God’s house and think of all possible means to bring you benefit, and imitate how, when fellowshipping the truth, I can tirelessly give examples and state facts so that you all gain something and all make progress—if you were to do these positive things, I would be happy to see it. Why do you not imitate these positive things? Why must you imitate those meaningless things? This proves that there is a problem with your mindset. If you really have nothing better to do, you should find some proper work to do; this would be beneficial to everyone. Why not do some proper work? Such people neglect their proper tasks; they are so obnoxious!

I have fellowshipped the truth for so many years, but I have never seen you put much effort into the truth, nor have I seen you put as much effort into the truth as you do into spreading idle chatter. Why do these people like spreading idle chatter so much? What is the use of spreading those things? These people who don’t have spiritual understanding truly neglect their proper tasks! If you can truly fellowship clearly on an aspect of the truth, and it benefits and edifies the brothers and sisters a bit, this is a good thing, and I should even thank you. But you always spread word of what I did on a certain day, how long I stayed somewhere, how far I walked, and how late I returned; when you always spread such things, I feel particularly disgusted. Some people say, “Why are You disgusted? We mean well. Are we not testifying to the suffering of God incarnate?” Is this viewpoint correct? (No.) In what way is it wrong? (God has spoken so many words and expressed so many truths, yet they do not fellowship about them. They also don’t talk about what experiences they have in practicing the truth. When testifying to God, they do not talk about these things, but instead make a big fuss over some things in Christ’s life. I feel that their hearts are not right.) You feel that I suffered in doing these things, but do you understand the suffering I truly endure? Do you know of it? (No.) You do not know, nor do you grasp or comprehend it. You just make a fuss over these trivial matters in My daily life and broadcast them everywhere. For example, I once ran into someone and casually mentioned, “My arm is bothering Me a little today.” I meant nothing by it, but that person read into it. After hearing this, he thought My arm was bothering Me because I had been writing too much. Three days later, the story spread, with people saying that I was enduring suffering. Is My arm bothering Me a bit considered suffering? Is this what counts as suffering in your eyes? Did I say this in front of you to show off that I was suffering? This is not what I had in mind at all. Besides, what does My suffering have to do with you? Did I ask you to spread this? If there is something I want you to do, I will tell you directly. I have instructed you in all My sermons and fellowships on what work you should do and what words you should speak—I have made it all clear to you. I have fellowshipped clearly on the truth principles and the paths of practice. These are the things you should focus on and should do. You do not focus on what I tell you, yet you pay particular attention to what I have not told you, and have done a lot of those things. I feel repulsed when I see this. I will absolutely not praise you, saying that you have done this well, and give you credit for it. I never do such things, and I have never said such words. Whatever I require you to do, I will tell you plainly. I did not require you to do this, yet you did it. I feel very repulsed and very disgusted inside, and not just a little repulsed. Yet you feel pretty good about yourselves, thinking that you have a lot of sympathy and a lot of love for Me, that you are particularly understanding, considerate, and caring. I say that you fall far short. Even if you do certain things appropriately, there is still a distance between us; what’s more, spreading idle chatter is not appropriate, and I do not like it. The fact that I never mentioned this to you before does not mean I tacitly consented to it. Now I am telling you the exact words: I particularly loathe people who spread idle chatter. In particular, some people see Me endure a bit of suffering and then deliberately spread idle chatter under the pretext of testifying to the suffering of God incarnate—to you, I say explicitly: I oppose this kind of thing, I feel particularly repulsed by it in My heart, and I do not like it at all. This is not testifying to God; this is spreading idle chatter. So, is it appropriate for you to do this? (No.) Since it’s not appropriate, what should you do? (We should not spread idle chatter. We should not do this kind of thing.)

Is there any disagreement between us in terms of how we treat the matter of suffering? Are our viewpoints different? (Yes.) Then where do your viewpoints on suffering come from? (Our viewpoints on suffering come from our corrupt dispositions after we were corrupted by Satan.) On the one hand, people’s viewpoints on all sorts of things come from Satan, as do human notions and imaginings. On the other hand, more practically speaking, they are influenced by societal trends and the social climate. The most direct impact of people accepting these wrong thoughts is that they develop some fallacious thoughts and views. When people come into God’s house with these thoughts and views, they develop all kinds of incorrect approaches. Therefore, some of people’s approaches in how they treat the suffering of God incarnate are similarly the result of prompting from some fallacious thoughts and views. In the nonbelieving world, when people with status and with prestige appear in public, they often do things for the sake of appearances, simply referred to as putting on an act. After putting on an act, they use the media to publicize it, in order to achieve the goal of maintaining their image and consolidating their status among people, so that they have a better image in the eyes of the public, inspire greater worship from people, and establish themselves more firmly in people’s hearts. And the approach people take of spreading information about the suffering of God incarnate is, to a large extent, influenced by this trend of the nonbelieving world. People’s thoughts and views regarding the basic necessities of God incarnate, or His day-to-day movements and actions, are also like this. Although people do not directly say what God incarnate’s purpose in doing this particular thing is, the method of spreading it causes the following consequences: It makes people not focus on pursuing the truth, but merely focus on these outward formalities; it makes them not focus on entering the truth, but merely focus on suffering, doing things that are easy for people to achieve and easy for them to emulate. People think that doing this is testifying to God, and that doing this is practicing the truth and also upholding God’s image. In fact, does the image of God need you to uphold it? In having you testify to Him, does God mean for you to testify about these things? (No.) The image of God incarnate doesn’t need you to uphold it, much less does it need you to uphold it that way. You may have good intentions, but your actions have caused adverse consequences, and in severe cases, they even constitute disruptions and disturbances. People have always believed that doing this is appropriate and reasonable, that it is a good deed, and that it is what a created being ought to do. I say, “Wrong! This is not what you ought to do. You should not do this.” Since you are a created being, you should assume your proper place as a created being and do your duty well; you should not act in the role of society’s media within God’s house and do the things that the media does. What words I speak, what suffering I endure, where I go to do something, what My daily itinerary is—I do not need you to publicize these things, I do not like you publicizing them, and I feel repulsed by you publicizing them. So, please stop this kind of publicizing, because this kind of publicizing is spreading idle chatter, and it does not accord with the truth. Do you understand? (Yes.) It is best that you do not publicize these things; spreading this idle chatter is useless. If you truly want to testify to God, then you should propagate God’s words more, and share your experiential understanding of the truth and your experience of the truth. If you truly have good intentions and want to do some good things and prepare some good deeds, then look at which area or which part of the work of God’s house needs improvement, and put in some effort and pay a price to do it well, and thus improve work efficiency, speed up the progress of the work, and also save manpower and financial resources. If you do some work of this kind, this is a good deed, and this is what a created being ought to do. As for what I eat or wear, or what suffering I endure, there is no need for you to spread the word about that. I have long told you what attitude you should have toward Me, which consists of just three principles: being open and honest, respectful, and obedient. It is that simple; I do not need you to do anything extra. If you do something extra in an appropriate manner, I will treat you as a brother or sister, and I will remember this favor you have done. But in terms of the relationship between us, I long ago told you the principles for how you should treat Me. What are those three principles? (Being open and honest, respectful, and obedient.) It’s precisely these three principles. If you meet these three principles, it is appropriate, and you will have held firmly to the proper place a created being should hold, and fulfilled your responsibility. Your spreading of idle chatter is not worth a penny, and in the end I will feel repulsed by you. But if I instruct you on a principle, assign you an item of work, or fellowship on an aspect of the truth, and you do and practice as I tell you, that is much better than spreading idle chatter. Only practicing the truth has value and is remembered. You spread idle chatter about Me, saying that I got very tired walking to attend a gathering somewhere. By spreading this idle chatter, you draw people’s sympathy and pity for Me. I am not happy about this at all, and I do not like you doing this. I will have to ask you, “What is the use of spreading this matter? Why did you spread these words? Do you actually understand what it means to bear witness to God?” If you cannot provide a reason that accords with the truth, and the underlying goal of what you say and do does not accord with the truth in the slightest, but is merely to satisfy your personal ambitions and desires and to try to curry favor with Me, then I tell you that I do not like you doing this. You absolutely must not do this. Let this be the one and only time; never do it again! In your associations and interactions with Me, you must repeatedly ponder the principles I tell you. You must hold firmly to the position you should hold, fulfill the responsibilities you should fulfill, and adhere to the principles you should adhere to—these are the things you ought to achieve. Do not always try to figure out how to curry favor with Me or flatter Me; do not always wish to sympathize with Me or pity Me, or wish to make Me happy. Do not do these things. Even if you do them, it will be futile. I do not like you doing these things, and I feel repulsed by you doing them. If you do not do these things, I will approach you in a by-the-book manner, and I will be able to interact with you normally. If you do these things, always thinking about embellishing what I’ve done and making a fuss about these things behind My back in order to curry favor with Me and get Me to feel good about you, I say that you are wrong. Doing this will only make Me feel repulsed by you. No matter what you do, I will treat you and evaluate you based on the truth principles; this is how I will view you. If you associate and interact with Me fairly and appropriately, we can interact normally. If you are always spreading idle chatter behind My back, then in My eyes your humanity is not good. At the very least, I would say you don’t have integrity or dignity, and that you are too lowly. Some people say, “I was putting in a good word for You—is that not okay?” I say, “There is no need for that.” People come to see and come to know what kind of person I am through the words I fellowship and through the truths I teach them; they do not come to see and come to know it through the idle chatter you spread. Therefore, your spreading of idle chatter is entirely unnecessary and superfluous. Perhaps no one else feels repulsed by it, or perhaps everyone else likes it, but at the very least, I do not like it, and I feel repulsed by it. When you spread idle chatter about Me, even if it really suits everyone’s tastes and really accords with everyone’s views, making everyone feel good, you should at the very least ask Me. I am the person involved; you must ask whether I agree with it and whether I like it. Have I authorized you to spread such things? If I have not authorized you, yet you spread idle chatter about Me, speaking so arbitrarily and even spreading it as if it were the truth, does that not mean you have ulterior motives? Then how will I characterize you? I will say that you are causing disruptions and disturbances. Regardless of where I go, what words I say, or what things I do, some people specifically focus on spreading these things, as if after doing so everyone will regard Me highly and will rate Me highly. Is this exalting God and bearing witness to God? (No.) Then, whenever I go somewhere to do some things, whether it’s things in My daily life or things related to work—especially things that seem like suffering in people’s eyes—am I putting on an act by doing these things? (No.) Since you know I’m not putting on an act, do not disseminate these things. Do not act as a loudspeaker, and do not act as the media; God’s house has no such institution. Do not set up a media outlet yourself and act as a loudspeaker to disseminate these things, because I am utterly disgusted by you disseminating them; it has a negative impact. So, you absolutely must not spread idle chatter and must not spread word of these kinds of things. This is one of the requirements I have of you.

God becoming flesh to do His work is a step in God’s management plan, it is one item within it, and it is somewhat special in terms of form—it requires God to come among people to speak and work. That is, God takes on the image of a fleshly body, becomes an ordinary person, and comes to do work among people. Aside from His job of speaking, the most important thing is the suffering endured by His flesh. This is also an item of the work, and it is something He must experience and must bear. During the period in which God speaks and carries out His work, aside from speaking and working, His flesh must also endure some suffering. It is inevitable that God suffers when living among people. God comes in the flesh and lives among people, to save people, to provide people with the truth, to point out the path to people, and to bestow life upon people. But what He faces is a humankind that has been deeply corrupted by Satan. So what must God bear? He must bear people’s judgment, blasphemy, rebelliousness, and betrayal, as well as people’s misunderstandings, guardedness, and complaints, and also the various ways they act perfunctorily toward God. He has to bear these things. Some people say, “We haven’t seen You bear these things.” When God comes in the flesh, He does not live among nonbelievers; instead He lives among God’s chosen people and lives among the human beings He intends to save. When living together with these human beings, His flesh must inevitably come into contact with, associate with, and communicate with these people, interact with them, and must inevitably handle many matters. When He handles these matters, people will very naturally reveal satanic corrupt dispositions. Do you think God incarnate feels pleasure or discomfort when He sees people reveal corrupt dispositions? (Discomfort.) Does feeling discomfort count as suffering? (Yes.) Then does He stop saving people because He feels discomfort? Does He give up on doing His work because He feels discomfort? Or does He just directly destroy people? He cannot. Those whom He saves are precisely the deeply corrupt humans. His discomfort is a real issue. As far as God incarnate is concerned, He must face all this and endure all this in order to save humankind. While facing all of this and enduring all of this, He must also continue to do His work, continue to express words to provide the truth, patiently and earnestly speak to people, and work among people. He cannot give up on saving people just because He sees that people have been too deeply corrupted, that their rebelliousness is too great, or that the things they do are absurd and disgusting, because this is His work, and so enduring and exercising patience is a part of His work, and it is also a part of God incarnate performing His ministry and fulfilling His responsibilities. That is, when it comes to humankind, God has responsibilities, He has concerns, He has work, and He also has expectations. God wants to save humankind, to make a group of people complete so they enter the next age, and to make a group of people complete so they attain salvation and become a new humankind, bringing God’s great work to completion, and gaining a portion of people. This is God’s work, and God incarnate has come precisely to perform this ministry. And so, before God became flesh to do His work, it wasn’t that He didn’t know He would be facing a group of humans who were deeply corrupt; rather, He knew full well that He was going to save a group of humans who had been deeply corrupted by Satan. Therefore, for God’s disposition essence, everything He would face and encounter would be hardships. These hardships include some hardships brought about by the external environment, but hardships occasioned by circumstances are nothing. What are true hardships? I asked you just now, and you said you didn’t know, so I must tell you, and then you will know. Once you know, you will be able to understand.

After God becomes flesh, His disposition and essence remain unchanged. He has divine life, and He also has God’s own disposition, so in terms of His essence and life, corrupt humankind is unable to be compatible with Him. This inability to be compatible with God does not mean people are unable to see eye to eye with God in terms of living habits or personality; rather, it means people are unable to be compatible with God when it comes to various thoughts and views, as well as the principles and methods for how to treat various people, events, and things. Is this not a fact? (It is.) The reason for this inability to be compatible with God is that corrupt humankind has been deeply influenced and indoctrinated by Satan, has accepted Satan’s enticements, and does everything based on Satan’s thoughts and views. These thoughts and views of Satan are all fallacious, and they are all negative things—everyone thus views God’s work and views God Himself with these fallacious views and methods. When it comes to humankind, God’s essence, God’s disposition, and even God’s painstaking intentions in saving humankind cannot be understood by any person, and cannot be appreciated by any person. Of course, there’s also no one who can treat and accept them correctly, much less anyone who can truly be considerate of Him. However, God incarnate still must complete this work of saving humankind, and He must bestow the truth, the way, and the life upon man. In the process of bestowing the truth, the way, and the life upon man, He also has to endure man’s misunderstandings, complaints, and judgments, and even his rejection and avoidance—that is, He must face man’s various forms of rebelliousness. Regardless of how patiently and earnestly God fellowships the truth, or how much He saves humankind with painstaking intentions, in order to bring man onto the right track and bring man onto the path of salvation, it’s very difficult to get man to fully understand Him. In this regard, God incarnate must constantly exercise patience and constantly exercise tolerance, never tire of speaking and working, and—through various methods, and from different angles—make people give up their fallacious viewpoints, so they can become interested in the positive things and truth principles God teaches people, and embark on the path of pursuing the truth. Enduring this is extremely painful. No matter how much truth God incarnate fellowships, He still has to face people’s misunderstandings, complaints, and even their justifications and defenses. No matter how much painstaking thought He has for people and how selflessly He dedicates Himself, He still must endure people’s rebelliousness and even their cold stares, and He must also face being extorted by certain individuals. However, throughout this process, God’s work has never stopped, and the progress of His work has never slowed, nor has the pace at which He leads humankind forward slowed. He carries out His work as always, and expresses His words and His utterances as always. In this process, on the one hand, because He is God incarnate, He possesses human conscience and an awareness of feelings. That is, from the perspective of humanity, He also has sensitivity; He has emotions, He has feelings, and He has awareness—He is not without awareness. In terms of humanity, His humanity does not transcend fleshly feelings or transcend the conscience of the flesh, like God’s Spirit does. And so for God incarnate, in putting up with humankind’s rebelliousness, He endures greater suffering, and must bear more pain. This is one of the greatest kinds of suffering God endures. Besides enduring and putting up with people’s various forms of rebelliousness on a long-term basis, there is another kind of suffering God incarnate must endure in doing His work and performing His ministry—that is, He lives among humankind while not being a member of it. What are the implications of this? God possesses a life essence that is different from that of humankind, and has thoughts and views on how to treat all things and events that are different from the ones humankind has. Of course, in light of these two differences, before God’s work has gained a group of people who attain salvation, what is the objective fact that God incarnate faces while living among people? It is that no one truly possesses the life of the truth that He possesses, nor does anyone truly possess the understanding of God’s management plan that He possesses. Therefore, while facing corrupt human beings or living among them, God incarnate Himself is lonely, even though there are quite a few people in the church who follow God. Is this not a fact? (It is.) I cannot say that all these truths I have fellowshipped are beyond everyone, but at the very least, up to now, not a single person has been able to completely understand all aspects of the truth. Perhaps after another ten or twenty years of experiencing things, and another ten or twenty years of doing your duty, you will have understanding of and have experience of some truth principles, and you will have gained some things. You will know how to do the work, and you will know the correct thoughts and views with which you should approach the various matters you encounter. Yet the truth you understand will actually still be very limited. Therefore, when handling some issues or when approaching various things, we can never reach complete agreement in our viewpoints. The root cause of this is different degrees of understanding of the truth. On the one hand, God incarnate must endure various kinds of unfair treatment by humankind, and He must also endure their various notions, imaginings, and unreasonable demands that do not align with the truth. On the other hand, God incarnate must also endure the most painful thing, which is also a kind of suffering He must inevitably endure: Because there is a difference between the essence of man and the essence of God incarnate, no matter how many years God incarnate works among people, He remains lonely. Tell Me, is feeling lonely a form of suffering? (Yes.) Feeling lonely is a form of suffering. No matter how clearly and how thoroughly the truth is fellowshipped, humankind’s entry remains slow. The same mistakes and the same corruption constantly play out and keep reappearing. With patience and earnestness, God incarnate constantly fellowships the truth to provide for people, and constantly shows patience and tolerance toward them—only when the day comes that God’s work concludes will He no longer need to endure this suffering. This is entirely because of the work. In addition, I, God incarnate, have many areas in My personal daily life that are actually very proper, but they are also subject to people’s criticism and judgment, and subject to people’s misunderstandings, and certain individuals even kick up a fuss about them. Man is incapable of being compatible with God. On the one hand, this is because man has the essence of corrupt dispositions. On the other hand, in terms of man’s stature, in terms of how much he loves the truth, and in terms of his attitude toward positive things, at his current level, it is impossible for man to be compatible with God. Even if man can pursue the truth to the greatest extent, or I can be tolerant toward you to the greatest extent, it will still be impossible for man and God to be compatible. Within this context, if My requirements of you are too strict or too demanding in terms of pace, you will not be able to measure up or achieve them, and some people of small stature will easily become negative and weak. For this reason, within this context, I can only be accommodating, and I can only exercise patience and wait. What does it mean for Me to wait? It means having good expectations, and regarding you with anticipation and with beautiful wishes—regarding you in this way and with this kind of mentality. I hope that one day a portion of you can embark on the path of pursuing the truth, or that a portion of you can, like Peter, like Job, and like Abraham, become people who submit to God and worship God. I look forward to this day. Over the years, in speaking and preaching to you, in fellowshipping about work with you, and in talking about everyday matters, I have always had this kind of mentality. Whether I am alone or living among you, this state of mind that I am in has not changed, and this mentality of Mine has not changed; this feeling has always lingered. Thus, I say that the suffering related to the environment or everyday necessities that God incarnate endures due to His work is no big deal, and is not worth mentioning—the true suffering I endure is something you cannot see and cannot appreciate. This is how I have gotten through all these years. No one cares about these things, and the suffering I endure in My heart cannot be conveyed to people. People cannot see it from the outside either. My mood does not change, My personality does not change, My daily routines are not affected, and the work is not affected, but deep in My heart, I must endure loneliness, and this loneliness is something that lingers. Tell Me, is this suffering great? Is this true suffering? (Yes.) So I tell you not to spread those useless things; you do not know and cannot appreciate the true suffering I endure. Why do I never talk to you about this suffering I endure? You would not understand, and even if I did talk to you about it, what benefit would it bring? It cannot substitute for doing the work, it cannot substitute for fellowshipping the truth, and it cannot substitute for the chastisement and judgment of God’s words.

Aside from the two kinds of suffering we just talked about—enduring humankind’s various forms of corruption and rebelliousness, and enduring loneliness—there is another kind of suffering God incarnate endures. You may never be able to appreciate this kind of suffering, but since we are on the topic of suffering, let us fellowship about it. God has been doing the work of saving humankind for six thousand years; starting from when God planned to gain a group of people, whether by speaking or by adopting some other form, God began unfolding this work. So, what does the unfolding of this work mean for God? What does it mean for humankind? It means that God is about to gain a group of people; God’s intentions and plan have been set, and He wants to gain a group of people, and ultimately this group of people will be the fruit of the work of God’s six-thousand-year management plan. Since God has planned and ordained it, God has expectations for this result. These expectations have accompanied His work all along. From the Age of Law to the Age of Grace, God has always had expectations for this result, and these expectations have carried over unbroken to God incarnate in the third stage of work. As God has become flesh again, no matter what gender He is, what His conditions are, or what kind of social environment He lives in, these expectations have been accompanying His work. Therefore, when it comes to this incarnate God, He also has to take on these expectations. It could also be said that He accepts a responsibility and a burden from God, and does His work with these expectations. Although both have the same expectations, this incarnate God works for a much longer period of time than the first incarnate God. Because He must provide people with all the truths they should understand, the nature of this work requires Him to live among people for a long period of time. It’s not that He simply finishes the work and provides an account, and His ministry is thus fulfilled—rather, during the period in which He does this work, He harbors expectations, wanting to see the result. This result doesn’t come overnight, nor in even one or two years. Rather, this result must be watched over, cared for, and awaited over the long term. As such, He must spend a very long time watching and waiting for this result, and looking forward to seeing such a result. This watching and waiting is a responsibility, is a burden, and of course, is a measure of pain for God incarnate. These are all matters within the scope of the responsibilities of His ministry, they are included within the remit of this stage of work, and they are a part of this stage of work. First, He must be patient, and He must also endure loneliness, and then He must watch and wait. None of these aspects can be dispensed with. These three aspects are all immensely painful for God incarnate; He cannot rid Himself of any one of them, no one can experience the pain for Him, and there is no good method to resolve them or break free from them. This is the most painful thing for God. Therefore, what suffering God incarnate endures in His daily life, how much He expends Himself, and how much of a price He pays is all no big deal, because no matter how much of this outward suffering He endures, it cannot resolve the pain God incarnate feels from enduring humankind’s various forms of corruption and rebelliousness, nor can it free the incarnate flesh from loneliness, much less, of course, can it substitute for the result expected by God incarnate or God Himself. These three things are a part of the responsibilities that God incarnate fulfills in coming among people to do the final stage of work, and they are an objective fact that He must face. From the time I officially began performing My ministry until now, for over thirty years, I have constantly lived in such a state. It might be that if I had told you ten years ago that this is a part of the suffering that God incarnate endures, you would not have understood, and you would not have felt anything, saying, “How does that count as suffering? You have such high status; You surely eat well, enjoy nice things, and lack nothing. Also, You have so many people following You, and working hard for You. What suffering do You endure? Does that count as suffering?” But now you might be able to understand a bit. If back then I had said that, during the period in which I worked, I had no home to return to and nowhere to lay My head, I didn’t eat well, dressed poorly, and lived in environments with poor conditions, and even stayed in caves to evade the CCP’s manhunts—if I had said these things, you would have been willing to listen and able to understand them. But I have never said those things; they don’t count as any kind of suffering to Me. The true suffering is the suffering in My heart. What I have told you about today is the true suffering that God incarnate endures. I say these things in the hope that you will know a fact: God incarnate coming among people to do work also requires Him to pay a price, also requires Him to be patient, and also requires Him to actually experience all of this pain. Because He has to perform His ministry, He must face the suffering He ought to endure Himself and bear it Himself. This suffering is what He personally must bear in order to perform the work, complete God’s management plan, and complete God’s commission. The reason I never testify to these things, and do not need you to testify to them, much less need you to disseminate them, and, of course, even more so do not claim credit with you and do not need you to be deeply grateful to Me, is that God incarnate coming among people to work is already a hard enough chore. This is His work, and it is also His responsibility; He must endure, and must watch and wait. I tell you this merely to let you know God incarnate’s attitude in how He approaches these hardships, and to tell you the correct thoughts and views; it is not so that you will more deeply appreciate what suffering is and what suffering God incarnate has endured. I do not feel aggrieved by enduring suffering, nor do I feel that enduring this suffering means I’ve worked so hard and made such great contributions. I am not trying to justify Myself to you, much less am I trying to extract something from you which I could use as capital. I endure the suffering I ought to endure, because I have a responsibility toward you. Of course, in terms of the ministry I perform, I must be accountable to God. There is no need for Me to seek credit or goodwill from you. So, to put it plainly, you cannot take My place in enduring this true suffering, nor can any one of you free Me from it. The only thing you can do, the only way you can cooperate, and the only thing that can somewhat alleviate the suffering I endure, is for you to gain entry into the truth, learn to be obedient, have testimony like Job’s, and have experiences like Peter’s; for you to have good deeds, to be devoted in doing your duties, to submit to God, and to love and pursue the truth; and for every experiential testimony article you write to contain some true experience and understanding of the truth, and achieve some results in terms of submitting to God. These gains of yours are the greatest repayment and the greatest comfort to Me personally; I have no other extra requirements of you.

It is no accident that God incarnate endures this suffering. Practically speaking, what God saves is corrupt humankind, and the corruption of corrupt humankind is a kind of pain for God. Living together, having dealings with, and interacting with corrupt human beings while also saving corrupt human beings and having expectations of them, it is inevitable that He suffer, and it is inevitable that He pay a price. This price is not as simple as speaking a few more words. What does God expend to save humankind? It is His energy, His heart’s blood, and His life. God’s Spirit expends His heart’s blood to do the work; likewise, God incarnate expends His heart’s blood and His energy in exchange for man’s salvation—this is also the case for Him. Starting from when God created humankind and human beings came into existence, God has been coming into contact with them and associating with them, and working upon man. All throughout, God has actually expended untold amounts of His heart’s blood upon man, and done untold amounts of work upon man. But God has never mentioned to humankind how much He has suffered or how much of a price He has paid. He just says in general terms that He has expended His heart’s blood, paid a price with His life to supply man, and granted the truth to man to serve as his life. But God has never said what suffering He has endured, what slander and insults He has suffered, how much weariness He has endured, how much of a price He has paid, or how much toil He has expended—He has never mentioned these things. There is a reason behind His not mentioning these things. If I do not tell you, you will never know. The reason is that, in doing work upon man, God has never contrived to gain anything from him; He is simply willing to provide for man so selflessly, and to dedicate Himself to man so selflessly. If we are to use human language to say what He seeks to gain by acting this way, what He seeks is for human beings to walk the right path, and for human beings to be able to live well—to be able to live properly and live out a human likeness, and to be able to live according to the way God teaches man; to no longer be ravaged, corrupted, and misled by Satan; and to be able to truly submit to God. This would give God peace of mind. If God seeks anything, it is peace of mind—it is for man to be able to live properly and conduct himself properly by God’s words, for the price God has paid and the work He has done to not have been in vain, and to see results in man. However much God has suffered, however much of a price He has paid, however many years He has waited, and however many years He has shown man patience—God has been completely willing to do all this. To obtain this peace of mind, God is willing to pay such a price for man. God Himself has never regretted however much He’s suffered; to use human language, He has never had second thoughts about it. To put it in the simplest terms, the words you can understand best, God does this to put an end to this concern of His; this is a wish that God has. God created man, and God has a wish to gain a created humankind that can live, survive, and manage all things according to the way He teaches them, no longer being subjected to Satan’s corruption and no longer ravaging themselves. It is a group of people who are like this that God wishes to gain. So God initiated and began to do His work, and has carried on with it all the way up to the present; this concern that He has for people has not changed, and this goal has not changed. No matter how much He suffers or how much of a price He pays, God has been working like this all along. While working like this, God has actually suffered a lot and paid many prices, but He has never tried to justify Himself to people, never explained these things to humankind, and never mentioned these things; this is directly related to God’s essence. No matter how great the things God does are, how much work He does upon humankind, how much of a price He pays, or how much He provides for people—that is, no matter how much God bestows upon people or how much God grants them—He has never felt that this is some kind of merit, nor does He need humankind to feel deeply grateful to Him. Whereas, going by the thoughts and views of human beings living in any era, no matter how great a price someone pays and no matter what they do, they must always be looking to get something out of it, and they must always have something in mind for themselves. But God has never had such thoughts; only God is truly selfless. What does being selfless mean? The simplest explanation is that it means to never give thought to oneself. Think about how human beings raise children and bring them up into adulthood—parents spend so much money on their children and pay so many prices for them, with the aim of enabling their children to achieve great success and bring honor to the family, which would allow the parents to bask in their children’s glory in the future. God does not entertain such ideas. His every move and action, His every thought and idea, the price He pays for human beings, and all that He bestows upon them are not only the most precious, but are also entirely free of any designs upon them. It is just selfless dedication and selfless provision, constantly providing in this way. This is true selflessness. All this is done by God. God never demands any credit from human beings. Among humankind, no matter how many misunderstandings and complaints from people He is subjected to, or how many grievances He endures, He never tries to justify or defend Himself. He is completely willing in everything He does for humankind, neither complaining about it nor feeling any regret, and He has never felt that this is something extra. That is to say, God’s selflessness contains none of those transactional viewpoints that human beings have, and none of the human desire to bargain. If you can practice the truth, you will ultimately be able to survive. God giving you a bit of grace for free is nothing for Him. He lets you survive, continuously live on, and live in happiness, living among all things, which God has bestowed upon humankind. However many blessings you enjoy, God does not feel jealous, and He does not try to vie with you for them. As long as you are able to know the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements, can submit to the Creator’s orchestrations and arrangements, and live the way the Creator requires, this is enough. God doesn’t ask you to constantly feel deeply grateful to Him, and He does not need your veneration. God has never asked anyone to set up a shrine for Him and burn three sticks of incense every day. God does not enjoy these things. You see, when Job saw God’s back, did God have any requirements of him? (No.) God just gave him the greatest reward—allowing him to see God’s back—which increased his faith in God. This was God’s reward for him. Then God left, hoping he could live in happiness, live among all things created by the Creator, and live under the Creator’s sovereignty. To God, this was the greatest repayment. Job being able to fear God and shun evil was true worship to the Creator, and it was also the greatest repayment. You see, what God requires of humankind also serves to benefit people. In fact, ultimately, it is people who gain the most enjoyment and who get to live in happiness. Does God place heavy demands on people? God’s requirements of people are not high. But looking at His requirements, we can see that God is truly selfless; He is constantly dedicating Himself, and does so for free. No matter how much of a price He pays or how much He suffers, God bears it all alone and does not try to justify Himself to corrupt humankind. Tell Me, does Satan possess these qualities? (No.) Satan does not possess a single thing that God possesses—not even the smallest aspect of what God has and is, the one regarded by people as the least worthy of notice—nor do human beings possess any of these things. What God has and is is all positive, is all beautiful, and is all lofty; it is the purest and the holiest. God’s essence, God’s disposition, and what God has and is can be called flawless and unblemished. Since they are unblemished, they are called holy, right? (Yes.) The various principles by which God treats all things, including how He treats humankind, are entirely based on the truth; this is what is most righteous of all. You see, no matter what aspect you view it from, God’s disposition essence is deserving of humankind’s praise. But even with God having suffered so much, He has not demanded anything from humankind. He has never asked the following of people: “You must sing and dance joyously in praise of Me every day. Praise My name each day. Every time you gather or produce programs, you must praise My name together.” Has God required people to do this? (Never.) No matter how much God suffers, how much work He does, or how much He bestows upon humankind, He has never required people to be deeply grateful to Him, or to venerate Him the way nonbelievers do with idols. God has never done such things. He has never said a single word or done a single thing for the sake of His status and His prestige in the hearts of humankind. He has never done these things. God’s Spirit does not do such things. He has never uttered such things or left such messages for humankind. So, has God incarnate ever done such things or spoken such words? (No.) During all these years of working and suffering among people, He has been constantly providing people with the truth and life, and supporting and guiding people to walk the right path. He just hopes that people can pursue the truth and survive. Besides this, does He have any extra requirements of you? (No.) He has no extra requirements of you.

In terms of its nature, the suffering God incarnate endures is actually different from the kind of suffering that human beings talk about. In a positive sense, human beings endure their suffering entirely for the sake of casting off their corrupt dispositions to attain salvation. In a negative sense, they endure it entirely because they have corrupt dispositions, and because they are judged and chastised for doing evil and resisting God. In this light, human beings’ suffering is necessary, and it is inevitable. God incarnate endures His suffering, however, for the sake of doing His work, for the sake of providing human beings with the truth, and so that they can break free from Satan’s corruption and affliction and embark on the path of salvation. God has to endure these hardships over the long term—this is also a part of His work. These hardships are things He must bear by Himself and must take on by Himself. Because God incarnate is doing His work and performing His ministry, and suffering is a part of this work, God does not need people to be deeply grateful to Him for enduring this suffering, nor does He need people to spread information about His suffering, much less does He need people to know it. If you want to know God, you should know Him by knowing God’s essence, by knowing God’s thoughts and views on how He treats all things and events, and by knowing God’s principles for handling various people, events, and things. Knowing Him in this way is the best and most appropriate approach. As for knowing God’s suffering, you can skip that; you do not need to know this aspect. Even if you did know it, you would not be able to sympathize with God, you would not be able to be considerate of Him, and you would not be able to take His place in enduring it. So there’s no need to fellowship about this. If you know that enduring suffering is a part of God incarnate’s work, and it is a process that He inevitably experiences in coming among people, understanding this is enough. There is no need to make a big fuss over it, nor is there any need for you to repay anything. If you pursue the truth, you might understand one day, but if you are not someone who pursues the truth, you may reach the very end and still be unable to understand.

We have pretty much finished fellowshipping on the topic of suffering. If you understand God incarnate’s attitude toward suffering, or if you understand what suffering He endures, what will you want to do? The best thing is for you to be able to practice the truth, be devoted, be an up-to-standard created being, and allow God’s wish to be satisfied. This is the greatest repayment to God. If you do this, God will remember it. The greatest repayment to God is for you to be able to pursue practicing the truth, and to ultimately be able to attain salvation, not letting God’s plan fall through, not letting God’s words come to nothing, allowing God’s words to be accomplished in you, and allowing the words of God to become your life. One day, when you have survived and become members of the new humankind, are able to become the masters of all things and live in happiness, and have satisfied God’s initial desire in creating humankind, that will be the greatest repayment to God. On the day you attain salvation and become the ones who’ve survived, you will have accomplished God’s wish of creating a new humankind. God will have gained a group of people on earth who can worship God and can fear God and shun evil—this wish of God will be fulfilled. When God’s wish is fulfilled, perhaps on that day God will say that you have helped Him fulfill His wish, and that you have helped Him bring His period of suffering to an end. This is the greatest repayment to God. When God’s wish is fulfilled, God will no longer expend anything for humankind; His expectations will have been realized. God will no longer need to do work. He will have seen the results and obtained the results, His work will have concluded, He will be able to rest, and He will no longer have any concerns regarding humankind. It will mean that you—through your attainment of salvation by pursuing the truth—have helped God break free from the sense of hardship He feels, and from His six-thousand-year course of hardship. God will thank you. This is because it will have been such a long wait, but fortunately, God will have seen the results at last, His wish will have been fulfilled, and He will have gained a new humankind—you should rejoice for God. If you truly have a heart that is considerate of God, if you truly want to understand and be considerate of God’s heart, and you want to give back to God, then you should be obedient and submissive, walk the path of salvation, walk the path of fearing God and shunning evil, and be someone who is able to worship God. This is the greatest repayment to God. Of course, this is also the only way to allow God to be comforted and to fulfill God’s wish, allowing Him to let go of any concerns and expectations He has regarding people. Of course, it is also the best way to help God break free from the course of hardship that is His six-thousand-year wait. In God’s view, this is the greatest repayment to Him; it is the best gift you could offer to God. This gift is accepted by God and received by God, and it is more precious than however many tithes you might offer up.

Is it okay if we end the fellowship on this topic here? (Yes.) Then let us conclude our fellowship here for today. Goodbye!

November 23, 2024